Apr 7, 2025
AAD Staff
Washington, D.C. – The American Academy of Diplomacy strongly opposes the
appointment of an unqualified junior officer to direct State Department personnel operations. The Foreign Service Act of 1980 (SEC. 208 of 22 U.S.C. 3928) states that:
“The President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a Director General of the Foreign Service, who shall be a current or former career member of the Foreign Service. The Director General should assist the Secretary of State in the management of the Service and perform such functions as the Secretary of State may prescribe.”
Every past Director General has been a senior officer of extensive experience having served at least once as an ambassador. With no disrespect to the individual in question, to appoint a junior officer with one overseas tour to carry out the functions of the Director General trivializes the position and its responsibilities. Avoiding Senate confirmation by establishing the officer as a “senior bureau official,” a position without legal sanction, makes a mockery of the law and generations of diplomats of the Foreign and Civil Service, who have served under difficult conditions and sometimes given their lives in the service of our nation.
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