Trump admin plans 50% cut to State Department funding - NYT

The Trump administration is considering a proposal to cut nearly 50 percent of the State Department's funding for the upcoming fiscal year, The New York Times reported.

The report cited an internal memo about a proposal to eliminate almost all funding for international organizations like the United Nations and NATO, ending the budget for supporting international peacekeeping operations and curtailing all of the department’s educational and cultural exchanges, like the Fulbright Program.

It said that it is uncertain whether the drastic cuts proposed in the memo would gain approval in the Republican-controlled Congress.

Among the proposed cuts, the report said, the memo outlines a pay and hiring freeze through fiscal 2026, with exceptions for any hires necessary to oversee foreign aid programs transferred from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being disbanded.

The report added that the memo seeks to reduce foreign aid spending by more than 50 percent of the current budget levels for both the State Department and USAID.

The State Department will request a $28.4 billion budget for fiscal year 2026, $26 billion less than the allocation for fiscal year 2025, according to the memo.

The report said that the Trump administration also plans to claw back some funds for the current fiscal year, seeking to reclaim approximately $20 billion in unspent funds from fiscal year 2025 to return to the Treasury.

The report did not specify whether Iran-related programs were included in the cuts.

Over the years, USAID has been a donor to Iranians in the diaspora to strengthen freedom of speech and free flow of information.

A part of the US funds also covers the expenses of Virtual Private Network (VPN) services which ordinary Iranians used to circumvent the Islamic Republic’s censorship.

Official government figures show Washington is the world's biggest donor of international aid, spending $39 billion in the 2024 fiscal year, out of which $65 million was allocated to funding State Department-administered Near East Regional Democracy (NERD).

The body is the main foreign assistance channel through which the United States has supported civil society and human rights in Iran since 2009, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The report added that it was not immediately clear if Secretary of State Marco Rubio had endorsed the memo which NYT said was dated April 10.

In late March, Iran International learnt that the US government resumed nearly all Iran-related aid programs that were paused under President Donald Trump’s executive order in January this year.