Former DOGE staffer Jeremy Lewin departs US State Department policy role

WASHINGTON, Oct 27 - The US State Department's policy chief, Jeremy Lewin, said on Tuesday he was leaving his role after nearly two years in which he helped lead an overhaul of US foreign assistance and implemented President Donald Trump's policies toward Venezuela and Cuba.Lewin, a top adviser to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said on social media he was leaving to return to the private sector."President Trump has put decades of post-Cold War malaise behind us — permanently transforming US foreign policy to put Americans first, keep them safe, and drive peace and shared prosperity in key regions," Lewin said on X.The 29-year-old joined the government as part of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency and played a leading role in closing the US Agency for International Development. Trump and Musk justified the move by accusing the agency of waste, fraud and abuse.Some programs were later restored or revamped under the State Department. Lewin oversaw that process as acting under secretary of state for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedom.In late August, Lewin began his stint as the department's director of policy planning, in which he focused on US policy toward Venezuela and Cuba, according to his State Department biography.The biography says Lewin is the only person under 30 to serve in the policy planning role.The US military captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January. Washington has since controlled the sale of Venezuelan oil and holds the proceeds, and Trump has said no Venezuelan oil will go to Cuba.That move cut off the main source of oil for Communist-run Cuba. REUTERS