President Trump’s transition team is asking a number of senior diplomats to resign as soon as Trump takes office on Monday, and many of the diplomats asked to resign intend to do so, two U.S. officials said. revealed.
One U.S. official said the actions, which are common during presidential transitions, were occurring more quickly and on a larger scale than in previous administrations. That means valuable knowledge about both American institutions and world affairs could be lost when the administration takes office.
The Trump transition team at the State Department is led by an aide to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Trump nominated to replace Antony J. Blinken as secretary of state. Rubio is expected to be quickly confirmed by the Senate.
Some of the departing employees are at the level of assistant secretary or above and run large bureaus within the department that focus on global regions and broader issues. Many of these positions are filled by political appointees and are expected to become vacant during the transition period. President Trump’s transition team called for his resignation on Friday.
It’s unclear what jobs these veteran diplomats, known as diplomats, will seek or take in the coming weeks and months. Career diplomats are members of a union that seeks to protect them if they are unfairly fired from the State Department.
All presidents and appointed secretaries of state replace all or most of their senior positions early in their administrations. In some cases, especially diplomats who have served for more than 20 years, decide to retire. In some cases, they may already hold top positions across departments and may not see a clear path to advancement when a new administration takes office.
Among the senior department officials who planned to resign earlier was Daniel J. Krietenbrink, a longtime diplomat and former ambassador to Vietnam who served as assistant secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs in the Biden administration.
Ambassadors also offer to resign, but in most cases it is accepted by the next president or secretary of state.
Ambassadors are announcing their retirement one after another. Jeffrey Prescott, a political appointee representing the United States at the United Nations agency in Rome. posted on social media Monday about his departure and his work with the United Nations Food Program during his tenure.
Like the top officials at the State Department in Washington, the ambassadors are a mix of political appointees and career diplomats. Many of the political appointees are wealthy donors to presidential campaigns, both Democratic and Republican, and have little experience in foreign affairs or world affairs.
During Mr. Rubio’s confirmation hearing last week, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, said he would leave the career diplomat serving as ambassador in place until the new diplomat appointed by Mr. Trump is confirmed and takes charge. I asked Mr. Rubio to leave it there.
On January 13, Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns to China said in an email that he would depart from Beijing for Washington and then leave the State Department. Mr. Burns had an unusual background. He served as a diplomat for decades, eventually becoming the third-ranking official in the department. He held other jobs, including a teaching position at Harvard’s Kennedy School, but returned to serve as ambassador under President Biden.
Burns said he was proud to represent the United States at a “very difficult and difficult time” in U.S.-China relations.
He defended the federal government and its many employees, saying, “Our country has some truly outstanding men and women in public service,” adding, “They represent us in deeply difficult situations in and around China.” “They work very hard and often at great personal sacrifice.” world. “
“We believe they continue to deserve our full support,” he added.
