A President Trump transition team has asked many career diplomats to resign from their posts on Monday, as soon as Mr. Trump takes office, and many of those asked to step down intend to do so, two people said American officials.
The practice is common during a presidential transition, but it is happening more quickly and on a larger scale than under previous administrations, a U.S. official said. This means a possible loss of valuable knowledge about both the American institution and world affairs early in the administration.
Trump’s transition team at the State Department is led by aides from Marco Rubiothe Florida senator chosen by Mr. Trump to replace Antony J. Blinken as Secretary of State. Mr. Rubio should be confirmed quickly by the Senate.
Some of the officials who are stepping down are at the assistant secretary level or above and head large offices within the department that focus on regions of the world or general issues. Many of these positions were held by political figures and will be vacated, which is expected during a transition. Trump’s transition team requested the resignations Friday.
It’s unclear what types of jobs veteran diplomats, known as foreign service officers, will seek or get in the coming weeks or months. Career diplomats are members of a union that would try to protect them from being fired by the State Department if that happened unfairly.
Each president and his or her appointed secretary of state replace all or most of the people in those leadership positions at the start of an administration. In some cases, Foreign Service officers decide to retire, especially if they have served for more than two decades. In some cases, they have already held leadership positions throughout the department and do not have a clear path to advancement when a new administration arrives.
Among the senior department officials who had planned to resign is Daniel J. Kritenbrink, a longtime diplomat who served as assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs in the Biden administration and former ambassador to Vietnam.
Ambassadors also submit their resignations, which the new president and secretary of state accept in most cases.
The ambassadors announced their departure. Jeffrey Prescott, policy official representing the United States to United Nations agencies in Rome, published on social networks about his departure Monday and his work on U.N. food programs during his tenure.
Like senior State Department officials in Washington, ambassadors are a mix of political appointees and career diplomats. Most of the political appointees are wealthy donors to the presidential campaign, whether Democratic or Republican, and have little experience in diplomacy or international affairs.
At a confirmation hearing for Mr. Rubio last week, Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, asked him to leave career diplomats serving as ambassadors in place until Mr. Trump are confirmed and in place to do their job.
On January 13, R. Nicholas Burns, the ambassador to Chinasaid in an email that he was leaving Beijing for Washington and would later leave the State Department. Mr. Burns had an unusual career: he served as a foreign service officer for many decades and eventually became the department’s third official. He left for other jobs, including a teaching position at the Harvard Kennedy School, then returned to serve as ambassador under President Biden.
Mr. Burns said he was proud to have represented the United States during an “extremely difficult and trying time” in US-China relations.
And he defended the federal government and its many employees, saying that “we have truly exceptional men and women in public service” and that “they work very hard and often at great personal sacrifice to represent us in difficult circumstances.” very difficult in and around China. the world. »
“I think they deserve all our support for the future,” he added.
