State Department Spokesperson Pressed Over 15% Staff Cuts Outlined In Sec. Rubio's Reorganization Plan

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During a State Department press briefing, Spokesperson Tammy Bruce was asked about Secretary Marco Rubio's plans to reorganize the department and cut staff.

Transcript

00:00off for it. Yes, of course you can. There's an internal State Department memo that was put out

00:07about this that said that the undersecretaries are going to be submitting a path to reduce

00:14domestic staff by 15%. Can you just help us understand how the leadership in charge of

00:20this reorg came up with the 15% number and if there's any wiggle room there? Well, I said this

00:26is an internal document. I'm not going to speak on something that you may or may, I'm not going to

00:31presume you didn't see something, so forgive me. But I'm not going to speak on the specifics of

00:37something like that, but the undersecretaries do have a role here. This is, again, not from on high

00:43things being swept away with one of those large yard brooms. This is a very specific dynamic brought to

00:50the undersecretaries who have daily operational experience. I see you. Keep your hand down,

00:55please. I'm sorry, it's a little distracting. These are undersecretaries who are working daily

01:00with the people in this building, who work in this building, who know what's being produced,

01:06who know what has to happen, and they are best suited to make a determination when it comes to

01:11this roadmap about how to apply the nature of what we want to accomplish. So the undersecretaries are

01:18directly involved and they will, I think, they'll have about 30 days to make their own plan in this

01:25framework. And then, of course, we'll see how that manifests in the meantime.

01:29And then just one quick question. Sure.

01:31Is DOGE involved at all on this plan or was this just a State Department proposal?

01:37No, this, I think, is a very good example of the importance. You know, we know the American people

01:42love the result of DOGE. I think there were some questions perhaps about how it was applied. And

01:49what we do know is that the DOGE approach, the goal of that entity and of that committee is something

01:57the President appreciated and still does, as do the American people very much. But when – I believe

02:03the President said a few weeks ago that ultimately this was going to be an approach that the secretaries

02:10were going to begin to apply. And also that does make sense, because whether it's the secretaries

02:15or the undersecretaries or the people running the offices, it is a daily – the daily work of

02:22individuals committed to the country making a difference for the world. And the people on the

02:26ground working together know best about how this works, what could change, and how it should change.

02:33So this is, I think, a very good example of the continuation of that mission and the value of that mission

02:41to cut government down to size, get people used to the idea that it can happen without it being

02:48a bad thing, and then watching the benefits that flow. So secretaries now in charge of this. Remember,

02:54this is from an executive order. This is a whole of government, every department looking at how they

03:00can make their department more efficient, less burdensome, less bureaucratic. This is the State

03:07Department's version of that. I would say that DOGE is not in charge of this, but this is the result of

03:15what we've learned and the fact that we appreciate the results and we want more of those results. And

03:23it is now in the hands of the secretaries as well. All right.

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