WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats unveiled a report Tuesday extremely vital of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s administration of the State Division, t
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats unveiled a report Tuesday extremely vital of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s administration of the State Division, two days earlier than he’s set to testify on Capitol Hill.
The 46-page report, produced by Democratic employees members on the Senate Overseas Relations Committee, says Mr. Pompeo’s division is rife with what it describes as troubling points: vacant key division posts, a tradition of disrespect towards profession employees members and an environment of political retaliation.
Democrats say this has hampered the company’s effectiveness in pursuing diplomatic relationships overseas or responding to crises just like the coronavirus pandemic.
“President Trump and Secretary Pompeo have left the division decimated and demoralized,” mentioned Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the committee’s prime Democrat. “This isn’t a bureaucratic or inside-the-Beltway problem. There are actual penalties for the USA and our nationwide safety.”
The report almost certainly previews assaults that Democratic senators will make in opposition to Mr. Pompeo on Thursday, when he testifies earlier than the committee on his division’s price range request for fiscal 2021.
Will probably be his first public look on Capitol Hill since coming beneath scrutiny for privately urging Mr. Trump to fireplace the State Division inspector basic, Steve A. Linick, who was eliminated in Could after opening investigations into Mr. Pompeo’s potential misuse of division assets and his effort to push arms gross sales to Saudi Arabia.
A State Division spokeswoman denied the report’s conclusions and mentioned Mr. Pompeo had efficiently enacted the overseas coverage targets of the Trump administration, working to advance the pursuits of the USA world wide.
Senate Democrats mentioned within the report that the White Home and Mr. Pompeo had not nominated sufficient certified candidates to key State Division posts, noting that 11 assistant secretary or beneath secretary positions are vacant or crammed by performing officers.
“Vacancies and performing posts have had critical ramifications for America’s presence on this planet, its abroad operations and for U.S. nationwide safety,” the report says. “The shortage of senior division officers and personnel attrition ranges doesn’t simply imply empty desks. It interprets to a scarcity of U.S. management on the worldwide stage.”
Division officers have in flip blamed Democrats within the Senate for the vacancies, saying senators haven’t thought-about, and even obstructed, candidates for affirmation.
Democrats have countered by saying they’ve authorised over 160 nominees for affirmation, however have denied some as a result of some candidates put ahead by the Trump administration misrepresented their {qualifications} or had a historical past of racist and offensive feedback.
The report additionally analyzed information from a 2019 federal worker survey, which discovered that 53 p.c of survey respondents within the division’s worldwide group bureau mentioned political coercion within the company was tolerated, up from 24 p.c in 2016; whereas 34 p.c within the company’s authorized bureau felt division management didn’t have excessive ranges of honesty or integrity, a rise from zero p.c in 2016.
Senate Democrats additionally used the report to focus on a tradition of worry and distrust that profession division employees members really feel towards political appointees beneath the Trump administration.
They pointed to stories of a senior adviser within the division’s worldwide group bureau compiling “loyalty lists” after Mr. Pompeo grew to become secretary, and highlighted a report from the company’s inspector basic that discovered Trump administration appointees within the bureau referred to as some profession staff “traitors,” a part of the “Deep State” or “disloyal.”
Democrats additionally mentioned profession employees members had been fearful after stories revealed that Mr. Pompeo urged Mr. Trump to fireplace Mr. Linick, saying that it “solely strengthened the sense amongst profession staff that wrongdoing by political appointees get a go, however those that search to disclose wrongdoing ought to watch their backs.”
The report contains 10 suggestions for the way division officers can enhance the retention of profession diplomats, restore a nonpartisan tradition within the company and guarantee certified officers are correctly vetted and nominated to key company posts.
After the report’s launch, a gaggle of former division employees members who served in varied positions all through the Trump and Obama administrations signaled that the division wanted vital reform and criticized Mr. Pompeo for decreasing the company’s diplomatic power.
“This report is a robust and essential indictment of behaviors that undermine the State Division,” mentioned Thomas A. Shannon Jr., a former beneath secretary of state for political affairs within the Trump administration. “The loser in all of that is the American individuals.”