Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Deputy Secretary Rigas, I appreciate your being here to explain the Secretary’s reorganization plans.

This is a dark time for American diplomacy. President Trump continues to isolate the United States, alienate our allies, and create space for adversaries like Russia and China fill the void.

We face serious global challenges—from Russia’s war in Ukraine and instability in the Middle East, to great power competition with China. America’s diplomats and development experts are our first line of defense. If we are serious about leading globally, we need a capable, strategic, and fully staffed diplomatic corps.

Instead, you and Secretary Rubio are gutting the very institutions we rely on to confront these threats.

Just days ago, you fired more than 1300 State Department employees. Secretary Rubio claims it was to put America First. But the people you dismissed—career public servants, many with decades of experience—HAVE put America first, every day.  They’ve served in war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq, responded to genocide in Burma, and helped bring Americans home during the COVID crisis.

Let’s be clear: you’ve created the largest brain drain in the State Department’s modern history, occurring as China and others expand their global footprint, while you shrink ours. 

And you are doing it without a plan, proper consultation, or transparency. 

When this committee asked for a rationale behind State’s 15 percent staffing cut, no one—no one—could answer. Like so many of our oversight questions to your department, we are still waiting.

Your budget officials fell back on talking points about how the State Department’s budget has “doubled since 2000,” ignoring inflation, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Department’s expanded mission, including implementing programs like PEPFAR, which has saved over 25 million lives and helped slow the spread of HIV and AIDS worldwide and here at home. Meanwhile, the Defense Department’s budget has almost tripled in that same 25-year timeframe.

Yes, State’s budget has grown to meet new challenges. But staffing hasn’t kept pace. And if the Secretary really wants to shorten the clearance process, the Secretary can do that with a memo, not blind firings.

Beyond the numbers, your disregard for Congressional oversight is unacceptable. Since January, we’ve sent dozens of letters asking about plans to reorganize the State Department and unlawfully collapse USAID into State, roll back mandated programs, diversity efforts, and close offices supporting our Afghan allies. We’ve received almost nothing. 

The law requires consultation for a reason. And if the Secretary can’t even stay to answer questions at the one hearing this Committee held with a State official, it’s no surprise his staff follows suit. If you don’t have answers to basic oversight questions, it would be wise to slow down and consider the consequences.

The Secretary claimed this reorganization was a product of consultation with the workforce. That’s false. Your colleague, Andrew Veprek, admitted it was designed by fewer than ten people.

The Secretary also claimed his firings wouldn’t affect overseas posts. Also false. We’ve heard from diplomats who had already sent their families and belongings abroad - only to receive termination notices. Others assigned to serve at critical posts like Baghdad were fired weeks before starting language training or deploying. 

You even fired officers traveling with the Secretary, people preparing his talking points for the very East Asia meetings he was tweeting about. That’s not reform. It’s chaos.

You fired veterans serving at State without cause, without process, without dignity. One of those veterans said it best: “These processes were not well thought-out or executed. The personal aspect of this process was as botched as it could have been and it was completely avoidable.”

And you aren’t just firing experts.  You’re gutting the programs they ran.  Programs that advanced America’s interests and protected American lives. What exactly is America first about that?

And let’s not forget the $2.9 billion so-called “America First Opportunities Fund”—a slush fund Secretary Rubio has proposed to spend on President Trump’s whims with zero Congressional oversight. House Republicans love to demand transparency–will they demand it now, or rush to rubber stamp this latest power grab?

Secretary Rigas, you are putting American diplomacy on a dangerous path. Step back from the brink, restore the dignity of America’s diplomats, and work with Congress on a smarter, strategic way forward, one that strengthens, not sabotages, our global leadership. 

Thank you, I yield back my time.