The State of the Department

#adrift | #WhatTheyVotedFor

This is … quite frankly, this is so many things at once:

The Trump administration in its first month has largely benched the State Department from its long-standing role as the pre­eminent voice of U.S. foreign policy, curtailing public engagement and official travel and relegating Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to a mostly offstage role.

Decisions on hiring, policy and scheduling are being driven by a White House often wary of the foreign policy establishment and struggling to set priorities and write policy on the fly.

(Morello and Gearan)

Seriously.

This is unusual. Puzzling. Unsettling, all things considered. Seemingly inefficient. Nearly expected, given a moment to think about it.

This is the Trump administration.

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Image note: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrives in Mexico City on Feb 22. The visit is the second foreign trip of Tillerson’s tenure at the State Department. (Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

Morello, Carol and Anne Gearan. “In first month of Trump presidency, State Department has been sidelined”. The Washington Post. 22 February 2017.