Four top State Department officials were reported Thursday to have resigned, and the head of the U.S. Border Patrol left his job.
The Washington Post reported that those heading out the door at State include Undersecretary for Management Patrick Kennedy, Assistant Secretary for Administration Joyce Anne Barr, Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Michele Bond and Ambassador Gentry Smith, the Director of the Office of Foreign Missions – following the Jan. 20 departures of Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Gregory Starr and Director of the Bureau of Overseas Building Operations, Lydia Muniz.
The Post said Kennedy would be leaving the Foreign Service while the others could get new assignments.
Acting State Department Spokesperson Mark Toner issued a statement that did not address these specific officials, saying that as is “standard with every administration,” the Obama Administration in coordination with the Trump administration asked all politically appointed officers to submit letters of resignation.
"Of the officers whose resignations were accepted, some will continue in the Foreign Service in other positions, and others will retire by choice or because they have exceeded the time limits of their grade in service. No officer accepts a political appointment with the expectation that it is unlimited. And all officers understand that the President may choose to replace them at any time.” State said.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee that funds State, was critical of the move.
Referring to nominee Rex Tillerson, Leahy said, “Any incoming Secretary of State needs the institutional memory of key managerial staff, and all the more so when a new secretary lacks government and foreign policy experience.”
“Whether Mr. Tillerson, if he is confirmed, keeps them in the long run is up to him, but it is regrettable that a decision was made, presumably by the White House, to summarily let go some of the most experienced career professionals before he even gets in the door. It will needlessly make a difficult transition even harder,” Leahy said
Richard Boucher, a former ambassador, assistant secretary, and spokesman at State said it is “not unusual” for people to retire or change jobs when an administration changes and that the new Trump Administration “deserves a new team, including professional diplomats.”
“What is odd,” he said in an emailed comment “is the abrupt way this should hit the professional managers of the State Dept. “
“These are the people who vet visa applicants, take care of Americans overseas, and ensure that our people and Embassies are staffed and safe. It raises questions about whether the new Administration values the overseas presence that we need to carry out policy, particularly at a time when the new administration wants to implement new policies," he said.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Turkey James F. Jeffrey advised against reading too much into the resignations. He said each of the operations the four have been running “have seasoned diplomatic professionals with decades of experience ready to move in until the Administration approves new presidential approval level officials.”
Tillerson, he said, “will find these operations, which run logistical Security and visa operations and thus, with limited exception of the latter, not involved in policy debates, fully loyal and ready to keep State chugging along.”
But he did say those who are leaving are “an experienced team of professionals and the Under Secretary, Pat Kennedy, is legendary for many valid reasons.”
Meanwhile, the chief of the Border Patrol, Mark Morgan, has resigned, a day after Trump ordered construction of the Mexican border wall.
Kevin McAleenan, acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection issued a statement thanking Morgan – who has served in the Marines, as a deputy sheriff and police officer, in the FBI, and as Assistant Commissioner of CBP’s Office of Internal Affairs – for his service and wishing him success.
Steve Hirsch is senior national security editor at The Cipher Brief. Follow him on Twitter @stevehirschnews.
