Report: State Dept. cuts to be reduced in Trump budget proposal

Cuts to the State Department budget will reportedly not be as large as originally reported.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pushed back against the White House, so the State Department’s funding — which was expected to be slashed by 37 percent under the upcoming budget — will not be cut as deeply, according to Politico.

The State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development will still face cuts under the budget expected later this week, according to the news outlet.

The budget will have “staged cuts,” a senior administration official told Politico. The official said Tillerson is being given more time “to do a deeper analysis on foreign aid.”

{mosads}Tillerson is reportedly deciding how to restructure the State Department, but was not willing to take a 37 percent cut in the State Department’s budget this year because he wants to choose how the cuts are made.

In the next six to 12 months, Tillerson will decide how the State Department will be restructured “and you can expect the department to look pretty different,” another person familiar with the budget discussions told Politico.

A State Department spokesperson said the department is “working with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review FY 2018 budget priorities for the Department of State and USAID.”

“We remain committed to a U.S. foreign policy that advances the security and prosperity of the American people,” the spokesperson told Politico.