President-elect Donald Trump's transition team has asked more than a dozen top diplomats to step down. This information was reported by the news agency Reuters citing two US officials familiar with the matter.
The 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump, has undertaken a rapid overhaul of his foreign policy and diplomatic departments.
John Bass, the agency's third-ranking official, was among those who resigned ahead of Trump's inauguration on Monday (January 20). He was acting under secretary for political affairs, overseeing policy from Asia to Europe and the Middle East. The Washington Post first reported his resignation.
All officials at the undersecretary and assistant secretary levels—effectively the entire two tiers under the foreign minister—have been asked to resign, a source said.
Reuters reported last week that the team overseeing the foreign ministry's transition had asked three senior diplomats overseeing the department's manpower and internal coordination to step down.
They are — Derek Hogan, Marsha Barnicutt and Alaina Teplitz
According to the State Department website, Hogan is the State Department's executive secretary. He manages the flow of information between the department's various offices and the White House.
Barnicutt is director general and director of global talent at the US Foreign Service. He directs staff recruitment, placement, and career development at the State Department.
Assistant Secretary Teplitz has been at the State Department for more than three decades and has served overseas and in Washington. Most recently, he served as the State Department's interim director of management, overseeing the department's operations, from budgeting to recruiting, procurement, and human resources.
Trump has promised to clean up the so-called 'deep state'. He started this work by dismissing disobedient bureaucrats! Observers say the changes are consistent with Trump's larger initiative to dominate the federal government. This strategy is considered to be different from that of any modern president.
Neither the State Department nor Trump's transition team declined to comment.
Analysts say Trump is likely to adopt a more robust foreign policy. He has promised to bring peace between Ukraine and Russia and more support for Israel. He has hinted at unconventional policies such as making Greenland part of the United States and pressured NATO allies to contribute more to defense spending.
Experts say, in achieving foreign policy goals, a loyal and unobstructed diplomatic workforce will be crucial.
Marco Rubio, Trump's nominee for secretary of state, said at his confirmation hearing last week that the State Department had been “neglected” and that the agency's staff should play a bigger role in setting and implementing foreign policy.
The officials who have already stepped down remain as Foreign Office officials, but their futures are uncertain. They can also retire. But if they want to stay in the Foreign Service, they will have to find new assignments in this department and get reassigned. And it depends entirely on the new leadership.
Trump wants to break the 'Deep State'
The three officials were asked to resign when Trump's Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio gave a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday to become secretary of state.
Trump's campaign website outlines 10 steps to dismantle the 'Deep State' and fire professional politicians.
The first of these steps is to reissue a 2020 executive order. This would remove job protections for some civil servants and make it easier to fire them.
Opponents of the plan, known as Schedule F, say it is an attempt to politicize the federal bureaucracy by removing job protections for public employees to implement Trump's policy agenda.
Typically, U.S. presidents can make hundreds of thousands of party political appointees to the federal government bureaucracy. But the career civil service of over two million employees is generally kept separate. Schedule F claims that Trump is going to fire about 50,000 employees and replace them with like-minded conservatives.
Professor Jett said taking control of the State Department staff would speed up the process of hiring 'trusted' officials.
Union governments and government watchdogs have said they will sue if Trump follows through on his promise to reintroduce Schedule F.
