A purported draft of a Trump administration executive order that would eliminate the Office of International Religious Freedom as part of a reorganization of the State Department is “fake news,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. 

The New York Times reported on April 20 that the alleged draft of an executive order outlines “a disciplined reorganization” of the department.

The document, a copy of which has been obtained by the Register, details plans to “streamline mission delivery, project American strength abroad, cut waste, fraud, abuse, and align the Department with an America First Strategic Doctrine.”

Among the changes listed in the supposed draft executive order is a plan to eliminate the Office of International Religious Freedom. The 1998 International Religious Freedom Act mandated the establishment of the State Department office to monitor abuses of religious freedom and advocate for victims of religious persecution around the world.

As part of its annual report, the office designates the worst offenders of religious persecution as “Countries of Particular Concern” and imposes economic sanctions on them. 

Secretary of State Rubio posted a link to The New York Times article on X on Sunday, calling the document a “hoax.”

“This is fake news. The @nytimes falls victim to another hoax,” Rubio posted on his personal X account.

According to the State Department communications office, the document in question was a fabrication, not an actual draft executive order.

 “The NYT article is entirely based on a fake document,” a State Department spokesperson said, in response to an inquiry from the Register.

Just over a week ago, on April 10, President Donald Trump nominated former Rep. Mark Walker as ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, a move that would seem to indicate that the administration had no plans to eliminate the office. As ambassador-at-large, Walker will head the Office of International Religious Freedom.

The purported draft executive order would make drastic changes to the organization of the State Department. A number of offices, it says, would be cut,  including “all non-essential embassies and consulates in Sub-Saharan Africa” by Oct. 1, 2025.  

The purported draft order also calls for using artificial intelligence to assist in drafting internal documents, policy development and review and operational planning, and eliminating the foreign-service exam for future diplomats. The purported draft order would substitute a new “entry framework” based in part on “demonstrated charisma” and “alignment with the President’s foreign policy vision.”

Nina Shea, a scholar and human-rights lawyer at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., told the Register she was alarmed when she received a copy of the purported draft order on Easter Sunday. Shea was among the human-rights advocates to successfully fight for passage of the International Religious Freedom Act.

“Shutting down the Office of International Religious Freedom would be devastating to the cause of defending against religious persecution abroad,” said Shea, who noted that Trump’s 2020 executive order declaring religious freedom a “priority” was never rescinded.

She told the Register, “Religious freedom is part of American exceptionalism and what makes us seen as a shining city in the hill by people throughout the world. Our foreign policy flows from that. American concern for freedoms, especially religious freedom, distinguishes us from China.”