Key House lawmakers warned President Trump on Monday that he should not cut an office that monitors anti-Semitism when he proposes deep cuts to the State Department this week.
“We view U.S. leadership on combating anti-Semitism and promoting human rights as pivotal components of American diplomacy and foreign policy,” Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and New York Rep. Eliot Engel, the top Democrat, wrote in a Monday letter to the president.
A combination of factors could put the post on the chopping block. Trump is expected to cut the State Department budget by as much as 37 percent, in order to help pay for military spending increases. Those prospective spending cuts lend urgency to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s desire to reform the department’s bureaucracy in ways that might make it more efficient.
But those budgets ultimately require congressional approval, and the lawmakers’ letter — which features 167 signatories from both parties — suggests Trump will have a fight on his hands if he moves to eliminate the office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism.
“During previous administrations, this office was crucial in documenting human rights abuses against Jewish communities abroad as well as developing and implementing policies designed to combat anti-Semitism,” the lawmakers wrote.
Trump is reportedly considering cutting back on several special envoy positions. “[D]iplomatic staff assigned to key regions and issues, including climate change, anti-Semitism and Muslim communities,” according to Bloomberg.
Tillerson warned the State Department staff to brace for changes in his opening remarks to the assembled diplomatic corps. “I remind you that our undertakings are larger than ourselves or our personal careers,” he said. “Change for the sake of change can be counterproductive and that will never be my approach. But we cannot sustain ineffective traditions over optimal outcomes.”
The legislators sent the letter after dozens of Jewish cemeteries in the United States were vandalized, and bomb threats were made against Jewish Community Centers. They emphasized the foreign policy value of the office in the appeal to Trump.
“The tracking of international incidents of anti-Semitism is crucial in providing members of Congress a comprehensive understanding of the problem’s scope,” they wrote.
