Streamlined and Rightsized: Consolidating State Department Administrative Services
House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Middle East, North Africa and International Terrorism
2025-03-25
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Source: Congress.gov
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The last time Congress passed a comprehensive authorization of the State Department was in 2002, over 20 years ago. Since then, it has become common practice to reauthorize State Department programs within our legislative vehicles, resulting in a complete lack of transparency on the process and a lack of oversight on what is really going on within the department. We're trying something new this year. Over the next few months, this committee will be using a microscope to examine the efficacy of the State Department and pass the first authorization in over two decades. This will allow Congress to exercise its constitutional oversight duties and ensure that executive agencies are being good stewards of U.S. taxpayer dollars, that every dollar and every diplomat is working in alignment with American foreign policy and its interests. My subcommittee has jurisdiction over the State Department's Near Eastern Affairs Bureau, the Counterterrorism Bureau, and the State Department's Bureau of Management. This hearing, the first one of the subcommittee, focuses on M Branch, and more specifically, the Bureau of Administration within M Branch. And I cannot think of a more appropriate place to begin. Simply put, the State Department would not be able to execute U.S. foreign policy missions without this vital administrative work. The administrative side of mBranch is responsible for state's entire acquisitions, procurement, and logistics services. It oversees real property management for the State Department and even the Department's library and knowledge management systems. Given the significance of these responsibilities, the Bureau of Administration should execute its role with precision, prioritizing efficiency and effectiveness in its service delivery. However, that standard has not been upheld in its entirety. The Bureau of Administration has faced significant challenges, from personnel attrition to long delays in standing systems to poor management.
And when the State Department's administrative services fail, so too does the State Department's ability to carry out the critical work of securing American interests and priorities abroad. And that is why we are here today, to gather more information on these shortcomings and explore how Congress can help. I think it's also important to point out the role that a branch has in advancing efforts to improve cost effectiveness and bring accountability to government spending. This Bureau can be a force for good if we do the job right. The State Department allocates approximately $11 billion to $13 billion annually on contracts for goods and services, with the majority of expenditures occurring at the Washington level. As the nexus for the Department's acquisitions and procurement, Bureau of Administration is uniquely positioned to advance new policies promoting cost effectiveness and reform. From reevaluating contracting procedures and policies to ensuring we have the appropriate personnel in place to procure and oversee the acquisition of goods and services for the department, this subcommittee will examine every legislative avenue to ensure sharp and streamlined State Department spending procedures. I'm confident this hearing will bring the subcommittee more clarity on the challenges faced by the Bureau of Administration's work and really where Congress can come in, work together in a bipartisan way, and make government more efficient for the American people. With that, I again thank our witnesses for being here and providing your testimony. And I now recognize the ranking member, Sheila Scherfelis McCormick, for her opening remarks.
Thank you, Chairman Lawler. I want to start by taking a moment to thank all of the dedicated State Department Foreign Service, civil service contractors and the local staff at home and abroad for your hard work and service to our country and the American people. The goal of the State Department are to advance our strategic interests abroad by countering adversaries like China, Russia, and Iran, help Americans who are overseas, and finally, to protect and secure our nation. When things go wrong abroad, when an American traveler gets in trouble, when someone needs a new passport, when top policymakers need information from the ground, you are there. You are our eyes and our ears and advocates abroad. Thank you for your hard work. I want to set the scene for what we are discussing today, streamlining and rightsizing the department. And why is it so important? The State Department is not a business. We cannot afford to move fast and break things. This is not about building a social media app. The stakes are much higher. This is about protecting Americans' lives, keeping Americans who live and travel abroad, making sure that when your child decides to study abroad in Italy or Jordan or Vietnam, there is someone who will help them, someone they can call on. It's about ensuring our embassies and our consulates are safe through hard work of our diplomatic security staff. It's about ensuring the next generation of foreign services officers are taught to be experts in their field, not yes-men. It's about competing against our adversaries and coordinating with our allies, not the other way around. And yes, it's about ensuring the State Department has the management tools, administrative capacities and people it needs to get the job done. My Republican colleagues would like you to believe that the Trump administration administration is the first to want to streamline or right size the State Department. and that it could be done that it can't be done without Doge. This just is plain wrong, as is the hallmark approach of Doge use, which they use to break things first and ask questions later.
Former Secretary of State Blinken began his tenure by laying out a modernization plan informed by actual data and input from department employees on how to bring the department into the 21st century and is sure it remains the world's premier diplomatic workforce. Similarly, my Republican colleagues might paint the work of Doge to slash agencies like the state and its workforce as a brave endeavor that Democrats have been unwilling to carry out. However, those actions have been reckless and have hurt many innocent Americans.
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