WASHINGTON (AP) — A large number of high-ranking career diplomats who have held politically appointed leadership positions as well as lower-level positions at the State Department are leaving their jobs at the request of the new Trump administration, which plans to install its own personnel, according to current and outgoing U.S. officials.
Personnel changes at the senior levels of the department, as in all federal agencies, are not uncommon after a presidential election, and career officials in these positions are required, as are political appointees, to submit resignation letters. However, it is unusual for new administrations to seek the resignation of officials in positions not appointed by the president.
In the past, some resignations have not been accepted, allowing career officials to remain in their positions at least temporarily until the new president can appoint his team. This provides a certain degree of continuity in the day-to-day management of the bureaucracy.
Lisa Kenna, a senior career diplomat who remains, was named acting secretary of state shortly after Monday’s inauguration. She only held the position for a few hours, until Marco Rubio was confirmed by the Senate as top diplomat. Kenna will return to a former position she held as executive secretary.
Officials from the State Department’s global talent management team spent part of Monday calling senior diplomats at the request of the Trump administration, asking them to resign immediately, according to a person close to the file. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, said that while demands for resignations were anticipated, the number of diplomats being asked to resign was greater than expected.
It was not immediately clear how many non-political appointees would be asked to leave.
Although any change in administration is inevitable, the departures come at a difficult time, particularly in Ukraine and the Middle East, in the foreign policy arena. The conflict rages between Russia and Ukraineand new negotiations will be necessary early next month to extend and expand a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Thus, changes at the senior levels of the State Department and the White House National Security Council could have a greater impact than in previous transitions.
At the NSC, President Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, Mike Waltz, was scheduled to begin an assessment of the candidates’ non-political careers on Monday, according to a person familiar with the planning field.
The person, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said guidelines are expected to be issued soon to relevant NSC staff.
Earlier this month, new Trump administration officials had questioned some career civil servants about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by Trump’s team, another U.S. official familiar with the matter told the Associated Press. The official also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel issue.
The NSC is a branch of the White House responsible for advising and assisting the president on national security and foreign policy matters and coordinating various government agencies. It is common for experts assigned to the NSC to move from one administration to another, even when the White House changes parties.
The NSC staffers who have been questioned about their loyalties are largely subject matter experts who have been loaned to the White House from federal agencies – the State Department, FBI and CIA, for example – for temporary missions which generally last one to two years.
The evaluation plans appeared to shy away from earlier suggestions that the administration would take immediate and dramatic steps from day one to overhaul the NSC staff. Waltz told Breitbart News this month that “everyone is going to resign at 12:01 a.m. on January 20.” He added that he wants the NSC to be staffed “100 percent aligned with the president’s agenda.”
“We’re currently working on our process to get everyone’s permissions and the transition process,” Waltz said. “Our people know who we want in the agencies, we submit those requests, and in terms of details, they will all come back.”
It was not immediately clear whether the dismissed State Department officials had been questioned about their political loyalties, even though most served for years under multiple administrations.
Among the career diplomats who will be reassigned are Acting Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs John Bass, who until Trump’s arrival was the third-ranking U.S. diplomat, and all other undersecretaries of State in charge of management and political portfolios. , as well as all deputy secretaries of state, who handle regional issues, according to three current and former officials familiar with the personnel changes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel changes that have not been publicly announced.
Unless Trump moves quickly to appoint people to these positions, the positions will be filled in many cases by current subordinates of outgoing officials, who are career diplomats often with years of experience under Republican and Democrat. And despite the changes, career diplomats will continue to occupy high positions in the State Department hierarchy, although their numbers were not immediately clear.
Outgoing officials were not fired, but rather were informed last week, in some cases Friday, that their pro forma resignations had been accepted. They will remain employed by the Department of State as Foreign Service Officers unless they decide to retire or leave the government.
