Rex Tillerson has already had a reunion with the friends that pinned a medal on him in Moscow. He skipped out on a less-genial meeting of NATO leaders, but he did have time to make threats against Syria, threats against North Korea, and spill a few aspects of delicate international negotiations to Fox News.
On Wednesday, he’s paying a rare visit to the land where he’s done the most to spread fear.
Morale is plunging among the U.S. diplomats and civil servants who work for the secretary of state. Many are aghast at President Donald Trump’s desire to dramatically slash the State Department’s budget and Tillerson’s apparent agreement. Some State staffers are eyeing the exits as malaise grips the department—and before expected organizational restructuring. And just about everyone is seeking clarity from the new administration about its foreign policy objectives.
Tillerson’s session on Wednesday will be only the second time he’s bothered to address his own department. He’s made no effort to meet with the larger staff, understand their positions, and determine the department’s needs. Because that decision was made in advance.
Stakeholders inside and outside State are particularly flummoxed that Tillerson is giving the speech, and planning to survey staffers, after he’s already decided to trim at least 2,300 positions. It’s a backward approach, they say.
This is one of those instances where getting called to the boss’s office is definitely not a good sign.
How can you get 2,300 off the top without looking? Well, Tillerson has experience. He knows that while there are 196 countries in the world, fewer than half of those have significant supplies of oil.
“I have no pre-conceived notions about how the Department or USAID should be organized for the future,” Tillerson wrote in his email. “My regard for the men and women of the Department of State and USAID has only grown, as I experience every day the dedication and professionalism of our workforce.”
No preconceived notion except that more than a third of the whole department should go, a level of cuts that Tillerson has already endorsed. Why target the State Department so heavily? In addition to keeping eyes away from Trump’s overseas deals, it also gives the new regime a chance to clear the halls of people who bear the taint of association with Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. In other words: They can dump everyone who knows what they’re doing.
Tillerson … impressed diplomats, when, in his Feb. 2 speech, he praised their work even while forecasting changes to improve efficiency.
But Tillerson’s image has taken a heavy beating in the three months since. State Department staffers suspect he didn’t stand up for them when the White House proposed cutting their budget by a third. They’re frustrated that he has yet to fill scores of leadership positions, and worried about his still-murky plans to restructure the department. They’re puzzled by his aversion to public appearances, although he has become more visible in recent days. And they’re annoyed by how isolated he seems to be from the 75,000 employees who work for him in Foggy Bottom and beyond.
Tillerson’s might be shocking for any other administration, but for Team Trump who simultaneously believes that “this shit is hard” and that one person can manage whole swathes of world affairs, it’s entirely typical.
In particular, a disrespect for diplomacy seems hardwired into Trump and Associates. The Iranian deal? Awful! NAFTA? We got played! China? Always outsmarting us! It shouldn’t be surprising that, when Donald Trump believes that every American diplomat is an idiot who can’t make a good deal on any topic, he wants to dump them wholesale.
When Rex is done, Jared can just take over for those 2,300 positions.