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President Trump's War on the State Department
[The Hill] President Trump is seeking to radically remodel the State Department in an unprecedented way, according to former officials from administrations of both political parties. His administration’s efforts, which include a proposed budget cut of nearly 30 percent, a hiring freeze and a potential reshuffling of offices within State, have left scores of positions unfilled, demoralizing the staff that remain. Past GOP presidents have also sought to cut State down to size, and even current employees have acknowledged bureaucratic problems at Foggy Bottom. But some former officials describe Trump's efforts as something unseen before -- a war of sorts on the State Department that if carried out would leave it hobbling. "My suspicion is that within the White House, particularly amongst the nationalist faction ... that this seems to actually be a concerted effort to diminish the role of the State Department in U.S. foreign policy and hamper its abilities to pursue policies that would be considered overly globalist," said Stewart Patrick, who served on the policy planning staff at the State Department under the George W. Bush administration. Hopeful prognosis at the closing para follows: "I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better," said Berschinski, the former Obama official, said. "I think we are going to continue to see an exodus of top talent at the department." Posted by: Besoeker 2017-07-14 |
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