The Trump administration is deliberating on “preliminary” plans to cut the budget of the US state department by nearly 50%, according to an internal memo first seen by the Washington Post.
The proposals, which are part of the process of drawing up next year’s budget, would include the elimination of all state department educational and cultural initiatives, including the flagship Fulbright program founded by Congress in 1946.
“Don’t get me wrong, the memo is very concerning. We have to take it seriously and prepare accordingly,” Alliance for International Exchange executive director Mark Overmann told The PIE News.
“But there’s a long, long path before the proposals in it would pose an immediate risk to exchange programs… And we’ll be throwing roadblocks along that path every chance we get.
“Exchanges aren’t going anywhere, not if we have anything to say about it,” he declared.
On top of education and cultural programs, the plans would cut federal spending on humanitarian assistance, global health programs and international organisations such as the UN and NATO, which are “already a tiny percentage of the government’s annual budget”, said the Forum on Education Abroad president Melissa Torres.
“Cutting them further or eliminating them completely… would gut decades of work vitally important to building American allies around the globe,” she added.
While the impact on international education would be “devastating to students and scholars”, Torres said that pulling funding for USAID programs such as Edesia nutrition charity that tackles childhood starvation would be “morally reprehensible”.
Overall, the plans would leave a total state department budget of $28 billion, marking a $27bn decrease on the funding approved by Congress for Fiscal Year 2025.
According to Overmann, the memo is part of an annual process for creating the President’s Budget Request (PBR) and can be considered the state department’s “wish list” that it sends to Congress annually.
The memo largely confirms the sector’s long expected fears of a tough FY26 budget including potential cuts to the state department and exchange programs, though stakeholders have reiterated that it is currently in a “highly preliminary phase”.
With a congressional vote on the entire budget expected in May, Torres said that many of the impacted programs had historically received “strong bipartisan support” and that she would be “surprised” if cuts of such magnitude were approved in the Republican-controlled Congress.
What’s more, Overmann told colleagues to “take heart”, highlighting that Congress has a history of rejecting budget proposals and going its own way, including in support of exchanges.
On April 15, a state department spokesperson said the plans were “premature”, telling reporters: “There is no final plan, final budget… Only President Trump has that information, and we’re going to see it soon.”
The state department has not yet responded The PIE’s request for comment.
Exchanges aren’t going anywhere, not if we have anything to say about it.
Mark Overmann, Alliance for International Exchange
Among the state-run educational and cultural exchange programs threatened by the proposed cuts are the Fulbright program, Gilman scholarship, Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), and the IDEAS program.
“Without these programs, American students from all backgrounds will lose the opportunity to engage internationally, depriving individuals and communities across the US from developing the understanding, relationships and critical skills required for economic competitiveness,” said Torres.
Prior to a recent federal funding freeze that paralysed many US study abroad initiatives, Fulbright supported over 2,200 US students studying abroad in more than 140 countries.
The program is credited with facilitating international exchanges for nearly 30 future heads of state or government and acts as a key educational strand of the US’s global influence.
What’s more, the administration is said to be considering closing ten US embassies largely in African countries, as well as a further 17 missions across Europe and Africa, according to Reuters.
“This proposed budget would severely handicapped America on the world stage,” said former state department and national security council official Brett Bruen: “It is essentially the demolishing of our international influence instruments.”
Democratic senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire said she was “deeply troubled” by the reports that Rubio might enact a FY26 budget leaving the US “alone and exposed and allow China and Russia to fill the vacuum made vacant by this administration”.
The memo was dated April 10 requiring a response from US secretary of state Marco Rubio by Tuesday 15, which does not appear to have been made public.
The plans follow the Trump administration’s shrinking of federal agencies, including a 50% workforce reduction at the education department and severe funding cuts to academic research programs and study abroad initiatives.
