A draft executive order from the Trump administration proposes a significant restructuring of the State Department, aiming to eliminate Africa operations and shut down offices handling democracy, human rights, and refugee issues. This draft suggests reorganizing regional bureaus into four corps and heavily reducing personnel, including laying off diplomats and civil service employees, while ending the foreign service exam and introducing new hiring criteria aligned with the president's foreign policy. The plan includes closing 'nonessential' embassies and consulates in sub-Saharan Africa and restructuring Canadian operations under a reduced team. Additionally, the order proposes cutting the budget, narrowing Fulbright scholarships, and terminating contracts with historically Black institutions for fellowship recruitment. These changes require congressional notification and may face legal challenges, with officials and lawmakers expressing concerns about the potential gutting of American diplomatic capabilities.

The proposed executive order aims to drastically restructure the State Department by eliminating almost all Africa operations, closing embassies and consulates across the continent, and shutting down offices concerned with climate change, refugee issues, democracy, and human rights.

The draft suggests reorganizing regional bureaus into four 'corps' — Eurasia, Mid-East, Latin America, and Indo-Pacific — and calls for a strategic regional specialization for career service frameworks, replacing the current global rotation model.

The reorganization plan includes laying off a significant number of career diplomats and civil service employees, putting workers on paid leave, and sending termination notices, while also ending the foreign service exam and aligning hiring criteria with the president's foreign policy vision.

The draft order proposes budget cuts of nearly 50% for the agency in the next fiscal year, narrowing Fulbright scholarships to focus on national security, and terminating fellowship contracts with Howard University aimed at recruiting underrepresented groups.

Critics, including lawmakers and officials, warn that these changes could severely undermine American diplomatic and development capabilities, while elements of the draft order may face legal challenges and require congressional approval.