@StateDept’s Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs: Doug Frantz Out, John Kirby In

October 10, 2015 By in Functional Bureaus, Political Appointees, State Department Tags: , , , , , , 2 Comments

Posted: 12:28  pm PDT
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In our Burn Bag mail today:

“Kirby in as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. Will that most bureaucratic of bureaus finally be fixed?”

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State Department Spokesperson John Kirby watches as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry addresses reporters on August 6, 2015, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during a news conference following two days of meetings at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting. [State Department Photo/Public Domain]

Douglas Frantz was a newspaper reporter and editor for more than 35 years before joining the State Department in September 2013 as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. He previously worked for then-Senator John Kerry as deputy staff director and chief investigator of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC).  We understand that Frantz is slated to move to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

John Kirby was appointed as the Spokesperson for the Department of State on May 12, 2015. Kirby previously served as Pentagon Press Secretary, serving for more than a year as the chief spokesman for the Department of Defense and for former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. He retired from the Navy in May 2015 with the rank of Rear Admiral.

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2 responses

  1. “… joining the State Department in September 2013 as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs”. Love it!

    Just wondering when the day will come when somebody will “join” the State Department as DCM in Paris, or Political Counselor in London?…sigh

    • Be careful what you wish for. I understand that there are now about 15 chiefs of staff (one in Tokyo) who joined the State Department when their principals were appointed as ambassadors. Bears watching what happens when the FSworld churns in 2017.