• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is pictured during a meeting at the State Department in Washington Feb. 10, 2025. Rubio on April 22, 2025, announced the "reorganization" of the State Department would include staffing cuts and the consolidation of offices. (OSV News photo/Craig Hudson, Reuters)

State Department urged to prioritize human rights, humanitarian aid in reorganization

April 24, 2025
By Kate Scanlon
OSV News
Filed Under: Catholic Social Teaching, DOGE cuts, News, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Debates over a plan to reorganize the State Department should seek to improve American “efforts in the world at diplomacy and global citizenship,” and should prioritize human rights and humanitarian efforts, a leading foreign policy expert told OSV News.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on April 22 announced the “reorganization” of the State Department would include staffing cuts and the consolidation of offices.

“I have had concerns over the years about State Department activities that promoted idiosyncratic American policies on democracy, human rights — including religious liberty and war — policies not in line with international law,” Mary Ellen O’Connell, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who specializes in international law and conflict resolution, told OSV News.

But, O’Connell cautioned, the way the Trump administration has made “radical changes,” such as the closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, “is costing lives and inflicting suffering.”

Workers unload food commodities from Catholic Relief Services and USAID in the village of Behera, near Tulear, Madagascar, Oct. 22, 2016. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on April 22, 2025, announced the “reorganization” of the State Department, which now oversees the government’s humanitarian efforts, would include staffing cuts and the consolidation of offices. (OSV News Photo/Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services)

In an April 22 statement, Rubio said the plan would “make the State Department Great Again,” a play on Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.

“In its current form, the Department is bloated, bureaucratic, and unable to perform its essential diplomatic mission in this new era of great power competition,” Rubio said. “Over the past 15 years, the Department’s footprint has had unprecedented growth and costs have soared. But far from seeing a return on investment, taxpayers have seen less effective and efficient diplomacy. The sprawling bureaucracy created a system more beholden to radical political ideology than advancing America’s core national interests.”

Under the plan, he added, “Region-specific functions will be consolidated to increase functionality, redundant offices will be removed, and non-statutory programs that are misaligned with America’s core national interests will cease to exist.”

The plan would eliminate the department’s main bureau focused on democracy and human rights, but officials suggested some of those functions would be moved elsewhere.

In a State Department briefing the same day, Tammy Bruce, the department’s spokesperson, said that the consolidation of offices or programs “doesn’t mean that it’s gone or we don’t care.”

Noting the recent death of Pope Francis, O’Connell said the late pontiff “begged for the resumption of aid in his final weeks on earth.”

“He has been ignored, including by Vice President (JD) Vance who had the gift of a papal audience in the Holy Father’s last hours,” she said in reference to the vice president’s ultimatum April 23 that the U.S. would end its role in Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations if its terms for ending the conflict were not accepted.

“Our church opposes the use of war in pursuit of conquest,” she said. “We support the victims of war and other human-caused catastrophes.”

The State Department submitted the plan to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which provide oversight of that department, lawmakers acknowledged in press statements.

Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, argued in a statement the plan would allow the State Department to “refocus itself on the core mission of effective diplomacy” to “advance U.S. foreign policy goals.” But Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., that committee’s ranking member, argued in a statement that while reform should be welcomed, “Any changes to the State Department and USAID must be carefully weighed with the real costs to American security and leadership,” especially where China and Russia may otherwise attempt to fill a void.

Cuts to funding for USAID, the government’s now-shuttered humanitarian aid agency, in countries all over the globe have included funding for efforts by Catholic and other faith-based humanitarian groups such as Catholic Relief Services, the international relief and development agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S.

CRS has been advocating for a restructuring of U.S. foreign aid “in ways that are actually helping people and advancing the common good.”

“We welcome constructive proposals to ensure critical international humanitarian assistance has the support and technical expertise needed to meet expanding global needs,” Bill O’Keefe, executive vice president for Mission, Mobilization and Advocacy at CRS, told OSV News.

He said, “We look forward to engaging with other stakeholders and Congress in shaping the future of U.S. international humanitarian assistance.”

Read More DOGE cuts

Impact of DOGE cuts on migrants, refugees

Cuts to CRS food aid projects could impact hundreds of thousands of children, group says

CRS rallies advocates, lawmakers against proposed long-term cuts to foreign aid

Senate protest over USAID closure snares Vatican ambassador pick

Trump’s approval rating drops as he reaches 100 days, including among Catholics, polls show

After U.S. aid cuts, Middle East Caritas forced to reorganize but remains hopeful

Copyright © 2025 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Kate Scanlon

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Hunt Valley parishioner recalls her former student – a future pope

  • superman Movie Review: ‘Superman’

  • Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

  • Loyola University Maryland graduate ordained Jesuit priest

  • Father Robert Wojsław dies at 52

| Latest Local News |

Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith

Lay associates journey with the Oblate Sisters of Providence

Father Robert Wojsław dies at 52

Scopes Monkey Trial ignited century-long debate on evolution and belief 

Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

| Latest World News |

Three dead, Holy Family Gaza pastor injured after mid-morning Israeli attack

Proof of life for kidnapped Nigerian priest received by Alaska diocese where he served

Filled with hope, Christians know cries of the innocent will be heard, pope says

Pope calls for ceasefire, dialogue, peace after church hit in Gaza

School club gives students chance to benefit veterans, fosters Gospel value of serving others

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith
  • Three dead, Holy Family Gaza pastor injured after mid-morning Israeli attack
  • Proof of life for kidnapped Nigerian priest received by Alaska diocese where he served
  • Filled with hope, Christians know cries of the innocent will be heard, pope says
  • Pope calls for ceasefire, dialogue, peace after church hit in Gaza
  • School club gives students chance to benefit veterans, fosters Gospel value of serving others
  • Top Republican appears to walk back probe of Catholic entities amid charged committee hearing
  • Mahmoud v. Taylor: A Supreme Court victory for parents, freedom
  • Church leaders, faithful in procession to Detroit ICE office call for just immigration policies

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en