THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2025 17 The Right Thing to Do When we are helping impoverished communities and nations treat diseases, when we are feeding starving children in conflict zones, and when we help ensure villages have drinkable water, we are using and gaining soft power. We do these things because they are the right thing to do. We also do these things because they are in our own interest. They build influence, a global standard, and strengthen our national security. When we retreat from the global stage, China and Russia fill in the gaps, and the world becomes a more dangerous place for Americans. —Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), during a House Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs hearing on May 21. Rapid Pace of Restructuring I support your efforts, Mr. Secretary, to reorganize and streamline department operations, and better integrate programs with our diplomatic and strategic objectives. I’ll note that the rapid pace of certain restructuring has caused some concerns and may require adjustments. Reforms must ensure meritorious programs are not lost, while also improving the benefits that they deliver. We recognize that being accountable and effective are not binary choices, and we should ensure that deployed instruments of power support our interests, deter our enemies, and deepen our strength on the world stage. —Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), during a House Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs hearing on May 21. Soft Power as National Security If we eliminate some of these programs that create stability over there, the chaos will surely come here. —Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), during a Senate Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs hearing on May 20. Fewer Soldiers in Body Bags Investing in soft power means less spending on weapons of war and fewer brave soldiers coming home in body bags. USAID, our nation’s premier development agency, has been central to this strategy. It has helped prevent violent extremism through education, stop deadly pandemics before they reach our shores, and delivered American-grown food to the world’s most desperate corners. —Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), during a House Subcommittee on National Security, State, and Related Programs hearing on May 21. Throwing Out Programs The concern is the wholesale throwing out of the foreign assistance programs for the 0.3 percent of grants that we agree maybe should never have been made. —Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), during a Senate Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs hearing on May 20. A Kingdom of Ash Mr. Secretary, I’ve known you for a while, and I respected very much Senator Rubio, even when we disagreed. … Secretary Rubio is doing precisely what Senator Rubio feared: withholding congressionally appropriated funds, stonewalling oversight, and acting as if laws passed by this body are optional. Secretary Rubio has presided over the dismantling and destruction of everything Senator Rubio once defended. So, although you may be the Secretary of State, the acting head of USAID, the national security adviser, the archivist of America, the empire you have stumbled upon is not one of influence—it is a kingdom of ash. So I ask: Was it worth it? —Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on May 21. JOSH Heard on the Hill on the mission, and to the extent they’re frustrated, in many cases, it’s that they feel impeded by bureaucracy, or by layers and layers of bureaucracy. People don’t join the Foreign Service to get rich. They know they’re doing it for service, and it’s rewarding. … We can’t do the work at the State Department without our professional Foreign Service officers.” Watch the full hearing at https://bit.ly/ FY26-full and the second May 21 budget hearing with the House Sub- committee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs at https://bit.ly/May-21-hearing.
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