The GOP wants to cut diplomacy as our enemies seek to replace us

Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee are proposing a budget for fiscal 2025 that shows their preference for political posturing over tackling problems affecting America’s national and economic security.  

The proposed fiscal 2025 budget would cut the Biden administration’s requests for the State Department by 20 percent and the Agency for International Development (USAID) by 29 percent. These represent double-digit cuts from the current year’s budget.   

The Republicans’ proposed budget cuts come as the U.S. faces demands for stepped-up global diplomacy in the face of challenges from China and Russia. While Republicans have for many years sought to cut resources for American diplomacy, China has been investing in its global diplomacy. As a result, in 2024, for the first time, Australia’s Lowy Institute reported that China is the global power with the most expansive diplomatic network.   

Republicans like to talk tough about dealing with the challenge from China, but their proposed budget fails to back up their tough rhetoric with resources. China is seeking to undermine the global system the U.S. helped establish after World War II. The United Nations and other multilateral institutions are a key part of that system, but Republicans, as they do so often, propose cutting U.S. contributions to key U.N. and other multilateral agencies. 

Such proposals reduce America’s role and influence in international institutions and are a gift to the Chinese Communist Party, which is seeking to expand China’s influence in these organizations and reshape their agendas to serve China’s interests. 

The proposed Republican budget cuts are also a gift to Putin’s Russia. At a time when Russia is aggressively spreading lies and misinformation around the world to undermine the U.S. and the West more generally, Republicans are proposing to cut the budget of the Agency for Global Media back to its 2019 level.  

The agency oversees the work of The Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and other U.S. government-supported media that seek to promote the truth about the U.S., particularly in places where governments promote lies and distortions. In the face of Russia’s information war on the U.S. and its allies, we should be strengthening the Agency for Global Media, not cutting its budget.   

Republican budget proposals also demonstrate their continued “head in the sand” approach to climate change and migration. The impact of climate change is showing up in increased temperatures, more devastating storms and Americans’ insurance bills. It’s also a reason why so many Central American migrants are showing up on America’s southern border.  

Nonetheless, Republicans are proposing to prohibit some Agency for International Development programs related to climate change and to decrease U.S. support for international refugee and migration programs. Ignoring problems does not make them go away — it only makes them worse and more expensive. 

The U.S. has never faced a more complex international environment. China is challenging U.S. interests and leadership globally, not just in Asia. Russia has launched a land war in the heart of Europe, and the situation in Gaza could tip the Middle East into a broader conflict. And climate change is only beginning to impact global security and prosperity.  

These challenges will not be solved militarily; they require sustained effective diplomacy.   

Diplomacy is a cost-effective tool of national security compared to the military but still requires resources to train and support world-class diplomats and for programs, such as those of USAID, that support diplomatic initiatives and turn policies into tangible results on the ground where it matters.  

Diplomacy should be America’s national security tool of first resort, but Republicans have a habit of treating it like a national security afterthought. Their fiscal 2025 budget proposals undermine America’s diplomatic readiness and capacity, to the detriment of our interests and the benefit of our opponents. 

Some Republicans know better. James Mattis, Trump’s first secretary of Defense, told Congress in 2017 “If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition ultimately.”  

House Republicans would serve America’s interests well if they heeded Mattis’s warning, abandoned political posturing and focused on the kind of thoughtful, bipartisan budget-making required in these dangerous times. 

Ken Brill is a retired foreign service officer who served as an ambassador in the Clinton and Bush administrations.