Secretary of State Rex Tillerson submitted a plan Thursday to restructure and shrink the State Department and save $10 billion over the next five years, according to a report.
The long-awaited plan was submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget on Thursday, according to State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.
In an email to employees on Wednesday, and obtained by CNN, Tillerson said the changes are “employee-led” following a listening tour and an internal survey that was disseminated to staff at the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
A State Department official also told CNN that 2,000 jobs would end as part of the process over a two-and-a-half-year period.
The Trump administration has pushed for cutting the State Department budget by a third, though Congress looks likely to keep State funding relatively unchanged, the report said. The Trump administration has also faced criticism for leaving a slew of vacancies for top positions.
Tillerson explained in his email that this would be “the most important thing” he does as head of the agency.
“Some will require Congressional approval or a change in law, some will require OMB support, but there are several actions we can begin to undertake internally,” he said. His email also teased more efforts to increase diversity in the agency.
