Former Secretary of State Powell condemns proposed cuts to the Department of State

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell recently condemned severe funding cuts to the Department of State laid out in the Trump administration’s FY2018 Budget request, making a strong case for America’s need to stay engaged with and lead in the world.Powell acknowledges that the United States’ diplomatic efforts rely on a strong and resourced diplomatic machine. This “strategic 1 percent of our federal budget,” he argues, is essential for America’s ability to “advance[e] the cause of peace, responding when disease and disaster strike, lifting millions out of poverty and inspiring those yearning for freedom.”The former Secretary further explains:

“The idea that putting Americans ‘first’ requires a withdrawal from the world is simply wrongheaded, because a retreat would achieve exactly the opposite for our citizens. I learned that lesson the hard way when I became secretary of state after a decade of budget cuts that hollowed out our civilian foreign policy tools.”“Our diplomacy and development budget is not just about reducing spending and finding efficiencies. We need a frank conversation about what we stand for as that ‘shining city on a hill.’ And that conversation begins by acknowledging that we can’t do it on the cheap.”

 The Trump administration’s FY2018 budget proposal foresees a cut to the Department of State’s budget by 32 percent. This includes a 55 percent cut to Educational and Cultural Exchange Programs as compared to current funding levels under the FY2017 Omnibus bill passed by Congress and signed into law by the President in early May (see Administration’s FY2018 Budget Proposes Critical Cuts to Educational and Cultural Exchanges for a breakdown).