The State Department has moved its Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy to the agency’s Economic Growth office, according to an org chart released as part of a reorganization announced Tuesday.
The three-year-old CDP has spearheaded dozens of overseas engagements intended to bring U.S. diplomacy into the digital age, helped to call out China’s hacking of American critical infrastructure, and, as recently as this month, worked on international counter-spyware pacts. It operated under the deputy secretary and was led by Nate Fick until January when he left and Jennifer Bachus was tapped to continue in an acting capacity.
In another change, State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, an intelligence-community office that protects the agency’s top-secret networks and produces insights to inform diplomatic decisions, was shifted to a new Bureau of Emerging Threats that will focus on areas such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, the Washington Post reported.
The changes are part of a long-anticipated reorganization that will slash some 15% of the department’s domestic workforce and close 132 offices, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told department staff on Tuesday.
The Trump administration distanced itself from a document that had circulated within the State Department over the weekend that called for eliminating the career diplomatic corps in its current, non-partisan form and slashing embassies around the world.
Last week, Rubio said he eliminated a State office focused on fighting disinformation originated by foreign adversaries, claiming the office censored Americans’ free speech, without providing direct evidence.
Government Executive Senior Correspondent Eric Katz contributed to this report.
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