The State Department has dismissed around 60 entrepreneurs working for its democracy, human and work rights office, a division whose programs have often been criticized by authoritarian leaders, according to two US officials and two former officials .
The layoffs take a hard blow for the office, because entrepreneurs were mainly technical experts or the region on which senior officials were based on daily work to promulgate programs abroad.
The office has received around $ 150 to $ 200 million in congress annual budget funding in recent years. But the office also manages and transmits money that the congress appropriates for other groups, including the National Endowment for Democracy.
In addition to entrepreneurs, the office has around 200 full -time employees. They work mainly in Washington, where the programs are managed from the headquarters of the State Department.
Office programs have often focused on building civil society and democratic practices in countries where the United States does not have official missions and diplomatic links, or where relations with an authoritarian government are particularly tense . This includes Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba.
President Trump signed a decree on January 20 which suspended any money or programs which can be considered as a foreign assistance or assistance.
Some of the office entrepreneurs have specific technical expertise. For example, at least one is an expert in virtual private networks, software that allows users to bypass government internet blocks. China has the most effective internet censorship program in the world, called the great firewall.
The office has also worked in the promulgation of policies aimed at putting pressure on China to go to its forced work for Uighur Muslims, including the imposition of sanctions to American companies that buy products that can be retraced to a form of forced work.
Some Republican politicians have criticized the office in recent years, saying that its programs to promote democracy often have ended up supporting political parties or groups abroad that are opposed to conservative or extreme right -wing political figures in these countries.
However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has long been a champion of politicians who advance human rights and promote democratic practices. In the Senate, where he represented Florida, Mr. Rubio was a main sponsor of the law of Uyghur forced labor prevention, which received a large support from both parties to the congress. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. signed it in December 2021.
The State Department made no immediate comments when he was asked about the layoffs.
Foreign leaders who criticized the office are Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Hungary, who tried to suppress democratic practices in his country for many years. Mr. Orban is a favorite politician for conservative and far-right groups and politicians in the United States. Last December, he met Mr. Trump and Elon Musk, the businessman of billionaire technology who advises the president, in Mar-A-Lago, the home of Mr. Trump in Florida.
The dismissal of entrepreneurs is similar to the drastic measures taken in recent days by the Trump administration, and by Mr. Musk in particular, to greatly reduce the workforce of the American agency for international development. Last week, the administration placed 60 senior officials from the agency on paid leave and issued orders that led to the dismissal of hundreds of entrepreneurs. Since then, administration officials have dismissed dozens of employees or have put them on paid leave.
Karoun Demirjian Contributed reports.