US government agency targeting foreign disinformation shuts down

State Department unit established in 2016 closes after US Congress fails to extend funding amid Republican accusations.

A leading United States government agency that tracks foreign disinformation has terminated its operations, the State Department has said, after Congress failed to extend its funding following years of Republican criticism.

The Global Engagement Center (GEC), a State Department unit established in 2016, shuttered on Monday at a time when officials and experts tracking propaganda have been warning of the risk of disinformation campaigns from US adversaries such as Russia and China.

“The State Department has consulted with Congress regarding next steps,” it said in a statement when asked what would happen to the GEC’s staff and its ongoing projects following the shutdown.

The GEC had an annual budget of $61m and a staff of about 120. Its closing leaves the State Department without a dedicated office for tracking and countering disinformation from US rivals for the first time in eight years.

A measure to extend funding for the centre was stripped out of the final version of the bipartisan federal spending bill that passed through the US Congress last week.