The Trump administration could cut nearly 50 per cent of the state department’s funding next fiscal year, according to an internal memo laying out a downsizing plan being given serious consideration by department leaders, said two US officials. The plan was drawn up as the White House pressures agencies to make significant budget cuts.

The memo, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, proposes eliminating almost all funding for international organisations like the UN and Nato, ending the budget for supporting international peacekeeping operations and curtailing all of the department’s educational and cultural exchanges, like the Fulbright Programme.

It also proposes cutting funding for humanitarian aid and health programmes by more than 50 per cent despite secretary of state Marco Rubio’s pledges that life-saving aid would be preserved.

It was not clear if Rubio had endorsed the cuts outlined in the memo, which was dated April 10. Pete Marocco, who oversaw the gutting of government foreign aid programmes before abruptly leaving the department, and Douglas Pitkin, who is in charge of the department’s budget planning, prepared the document. It was also not clear how seriously the proposed cuts would be entertained in Congress, which appropriates federal dollars.

But, according to a US official familiar with the department’s review, it is likely that the White House will send Congress a budget proposal this spring that is substantially similar to what the memo outlines in an effort to press lawmakers to formalise downsizing efforts that are already underway.

Agencies are facing a deadline this week to submit detailed reorganisation plans to the White House explaining what cuts they will make to help further shrink the federal government. While many departments have already announced or begun carrying out their planned cuts, the state department has yet to publicly detail complete plans for downsizing. The memo is part of a process involving the White House budget office and the state department trading proposals and suggestions.

Reports of steep cuts already had Democrats on Capitol Hill reeling.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said on Monday that the cuts “would leave our country alone and exposed and allow China and Russia to fill the vacuum made vacant by this administration”.

New York Times News Service