State Department Travel Spending Down by $100 Million
The State Department has reportedly reduced its travel expenditures by nearly $100 million compared to last year, largely due to extensive budget cuts, as indicated by documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
From January to September 2024, the Biden administration allocated $306 million for both domestic and international travel. In contrast, the Trump administration spent about $212 million during the same period last year.
This drop, totaling roughly $37 million, was primarily observed in domestic travel, which saw a significant decline in conference attendance—about $7 million was saved here. There’s also a noted reduction of approximately $14 million for field visits within the U.S. and around $5.5 million in domestic special mission travel.
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International travel decreased significantly as well, going from $206 million to $149 million when comparing the two January-to-September periods. Notably, international field visits and consulting tasks fell by about $12.5 million, while training-related travel dropped by around $15 million.
Tommy Piggott, the chief deputy press secretary, remarked that, “the Trump administration has consistently stood by the American people and taxpayers, and these numbers prove that.” He emphasized the administration’s belief in genuine diplomacy rather than just meetings for formality’s sake.
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This decrease in travel spending aligns with broader efforts by the Trump administration to downsize the State Department and minimize its international footprint. A memo from the Office of Management and Budget in April 2025 suggested cutting the budgets of both the State Department and USAID by nearly half for the subsequent fiscal year.
The proposed changes could reduce the budget from approximately $55 billion to about $28.4 billion. This would potentially halve funding for humanitarian assistance and global health initiatives, in addition to risking the closure or significant downsizing of several U.S. missions worldwide.
As of July, the State Department had also begun the process of laying off over 1,300 domestic staff members.
