by Nicole Viorel Butler at Drop Site
Drop Site obtained the internal memo reshaping U.S. diplomacy. Even senior lawmakers say they never saw, nor heard of, it.
In early May, a sensitive State Department memo began circulating through select committees on Capitol Hill. Congressional Note 25-032 lays out a radical reorganization of the U.S. diplomatic corps that would eliminate many programs long associated with the U.S., including support for free speech, women’s rights, and cultural exchange. But despite its sweeping scope—including the elimination of over 100 offices and thousands of jobs—Drop Site could only find a single member of Congress that had seen it.
The memo was first revealed, in a very limited way, when Politico and others reported on the Office of Reemigration. The memo was first revealed via The Wire, who focused largely on the development of the new Office of Reemigration. However, the 136 page memo was more broad, and extensive, than any four paragraph mention on immigration reform. It effectively rewrites what the State Department is—and who it serves—from the top-down. Much of the foreign aid—like USAID and Refugee Assistance—will be repurposed for immigration under the new Office of Reemigration.
Even Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, which was supposed to have received the note given its major impact on the budget, had not seen it. Neither had senators including Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and Chris Murphy (D-CT), who serves on both Foreign Relations and Appropriations. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the powerful Chair of the Judiciary Committee and a hardliner on immigration, told Drop Site he had no knowledge of the memo’s existence.
“I haven’t seen it,” Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) told me during the 4:30 PM vote outside the House Chambers. “The committee may have it, but I haven’t seen it personally,” even though he’d need to review the memo before adjusting the State Department budget.
The only member to acknowledge it was Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), who chairs…
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