Watchdog cites potential improvements for State’s cyber diplomacy office amid agency reorg

The Government Accountability Office noted that the reorganization of the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy could remove it from the direct line to leadership it enjoyed while under the Deputy Secretary’s office.

The efficacy of the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy fell under scrutiny in Congress on Tuesday, as government oversight officials offered insights into what the office needs to function in the face of the agency’s internal reorganization.

Testifying on Tuesday before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Europe Subcommittee, Latesha Love-Grayer — the director of the Government Accountability Office’s international affairs and trade division — cited her office’s audits and reports from September 2020 to January 2024 in evaluating the CDP’s communication with other federal stakeholders and how the changes to the bureau's structure helped its cyber diplomacy goals.

Among its strengths, Love-Grayer recounted CDP’s interagency and foreign ...