Category Archives: SFRC

SFRC Clears John Carwile, Erin McKee, Anthony Godfrey, Herro Mustafa, Andrew Bremberg

September 23, 2019 By in FSOs, Nominations, Political Appointees, SFRC Tags: , , , , ,

 

On September 18, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee cleared the following executive nominations. The next step would be confirmation by the full Senate.
John Leslie Carwile, of Maryland, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Latvia.
Erin Elizabeth McKee, of California, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Solomon Islands and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Vanuatu.
Anthony F. Godfrey, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Serbia
Herro Mustafa, of California, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Bulgaria
Andrew P. Bremberg, of Virginia, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Office of the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, with the rank of Ambassador

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Pompeo Announces Departure of Andrea Thompson as Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security

September 23, 2019 By in Functional Bureaus, Huh? News, Mike Pompeo, Political Appointees, Resignations, Security, Senators, SFRC, State Department, Trends Tags: , , ,
On December 13, the WH announced Trump’s intent to nominate retired U.S. Colonel Andrea L. Thompson to be the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security (State/T).  She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by voice vote on April 26, 2018.  She succeeded Rose Eileen Gottemoeller who served from 2014–2016, and was subsequently appointed to NATO (see Rose @Gottemoeller Moves to @NATO as First Female Deputy Secretary General).  More about Thompson here.
On September 20, about 17 months into her tenure, Secretary Pompeo announced Thompson’s departure without detailing the reason she is leaving one of the top senior jobs in Foggy Bottom. So the T bureau is once more vacant, as well as the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance which does not have a Senate-confirmed assistant secretary as of this writing (office is currently headed by Thomas DiNanno as Senior Bureau Official and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Defense Policy, Emerging Threats, and Outreach). The Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, and the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs both have Senate-confirmed assistant secretaries, presumably one of them would be up as Acting “T” until a a new nominee is identified and confirmed. How long that would take, that’s a guessing game we all can play while chaos marches on.

Related post:

SFRC Confirmation Hearing: Marshall Billingslea to be Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights (J)

September 18, 2019 By in Hearings, Nominations, Political Appointees, Senators, SFRC, State Department, Trump Tags: , , , ,

 

On September 19, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will have a confirmation hearing for  four Trump nominees including Marshall Billingslea to be the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights (J) at the Department of State. This office oversees five bureaus and four offices.
Mr. Billingslea was originally nominated in 2018, and re-nominated in January 2019.

Via WH, August 21, 2018:

Marshall Billingslea of Virginia, to be Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights at the Department of State.

Mr. Billingslea currently serves as Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing of the Treasury Department. Previously, he worked for Deloitte as a Managing Director; the Department of Defense as Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Negotiations Policy; the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, as Assistant Secretary General for Defense Investment; and the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations as a senior staff member in national security affairs. Mr. Billingslea is the recipient of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service, the Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic, and the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana of Estonia. Mr. Billingslea earned his B.A. from Dartmouth College and M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

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UN Ambassador Nominee Kelly Craft Gets a Senate Grilling, But Why Is Mitch Still Smiling?

June 28, 2019 By in Ambassadors, Hearings, Huh? News, international organizations, Nominations, Political Appointees, SFRC, Trends, Trump, U.S. Missions, UN Tags: , , , , , ,

Help Fund the Blog | Diplopundit 2019 — 60-Day Campaign from June 5, 2019 – August 5, 2019

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State/T to SFRC in Full Swagger and Smirk, “You’ll have to ask Russia”

May 17, 2019 By in Foreign Affairs, Functional Bureaus, Hearings, Huh? News, SFRC, State Department, Trends, U.S. Senate Tags: , ,

 

 

 

 

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Senators Van Hollen and Sullivan Introduce the Foreign Service Families Act (S.1293)

May 10, 2019 By in Congress, Foreign Service, Realities of the FS, Senators, SFRC, Spouses, Staffing the FS, U.S. Senate Tags: , , , , ,

 

U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), cofounders of the bipartisan Foreign Service Caucus, have introduced the Foreign Service Families Act (S.1293), a bill to expand employment opportunities for spouses of Foreign Service officers.

Senator Van Hollen’s press statement notes that “This legislation will help ensure that the State Department is able to attract and retain a world-class diplomatic corps by providing expanded career options and services to eligible family members. For many of these family members, the process of finding employment isn’t easy — frequent moves, language barriers, and limited options pose significant challenges. This legislation will address that issue so our Foreign Service can continue to serve the best interests of Americans at home and abroad.”

According to Senator Van Hollen’s press statement, The Foreign Service Families Act would provide authority to the State Department to offer the same services to Foreign Service family members overseas that the Defense Department is permitted to provide to military families. This includes:

  • Expanded hiring authority and preference for qualified spouses
  • Ensuring that Foreign Services spouses receive notice of State Department vacancies and that those who apply receive consideration
  • Making space available in State Department facilities for outside entities to provide career services
  • Developing partnerships with the private sector to enhance employment opportunities for Foreign Service spouses, and
  • Incorporating hiring preferences for qualified Foreign Service spouses into contracts between the Department of State and private-sector entities.

Additionally the legislation:

  • Directs the State Department to expand telecommuting opportunities for Foreign Service family members, so that family members can continue to work federal civilian and private sector jobs while overseas
  • Ensures that family members in the Expanded Professional Associates Program, which offers career opportunities for family members with advanced education and professional experience, are not held to unfair hiring standards, and
  • Makes sure that the State Department has fully implemented the Foreign Service Family Reserve Corps, a program intended to speed hiring and improve clearance portability for Foreign Service family members.

The bill has been “read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.” We’ve searched for the text but have not yet been able to locate it.  According to congress.gov, as of 05/10/2019 text has not been received for S.1293: “Bills are generally sent to the Library of Congress from GPO, the Government Publishing Office, a day or two after they are introduced on the floor of the House or Senate. Delays can occur when there are a large number of bills to prepare or when a very large bill has to be printed.”

Govtrack notes that the United States Congress considers about 5,000 bills and resolutions each year, but of those only about 7% will become law. All bills not enacted by the end of the session on Jan 3, 2021 die, and Congress will start over.

 

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@StateDept Gets Closer to Getting an Under Secretary for Management, Vacant Since January 2017

May 10, 2019 By in Appointments, Mike Pompeo, Nominations, Political Appointees, Senators, SFRC, State Department, U.S. Senate Tags: , ,

 

SFRC Clears 9 @StateDept, Peace Corps and MCC Nominees

May 8, 2019 By in assistant secretaries, Nominations, SFRC, State Department, U.S. Senate Tags: ,

On May 2, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee cleared the following nominations paving the way for their full vote in the U.S. Senate:

Mr. Brian J. Bulatao, of Texas, to be an Under Secretary of State (Management)

Mr. David Schenker, of New Jersey, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Near Eastern Affairs)

Mr. Robert A. Destro, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor)

The Honorable David Michael Satterfield, of Missouri, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career Minister, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Turkey

Mr. Edward F. Crawford, of Ohio, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Ireland

Ms. Kate Marie Byrnes, of Florida, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of North Macedonia

The Honorable James S. Gilmore, of Virginia, to be U.S. Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, with the rank of Ambassador

Mr. Alan R. Swendiman, of North Carolina, to be Deputy Director of the Peace Corps

Mr. Sean Cairncross, of Minnesota, to be Chief Executive Officer, Millennium Challenge Corporation

 

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SFRC Clears 15 @StateDept Nominees

April 15, 2019 By in Congress, Nominations, Senators, SFRC, U.S. Senate Tags: , ,

 

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has not actually forgotten the nominees from the State Department. On April 3, the panel finally cleared a few nominations and advanced the following nominees for their full Senate  votes. As of this writing, the following nominees are still pending in the Senate’s Executive Calendar.

Career Nominations

PN122 Michael J. Fitzpatrick, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Ecuador.

PN133 W. Patrick Murphy, of Vermont, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Cambodia.

PN146 Matthew H. Tueller, of Utah, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Iraq.

 

Non-Career Nominations

PN104 Stephen Akard, of Indiana, to be Director of the Office of Foreign Missions, with the rank of Ambassador.

PN108 Lynda Blanchard, of Alabama, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Slovenia.

PN114 Joseph Cella, of Michigan, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Fiji, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru, the Kingdom of Tonga, and Tuvalu.

PN123 Kenneth S. George, of Texas, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.

PN126 Jeffrey Ross Gunter, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Iceland.

PN129 Ronald Douglas Johnson, of Florida, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of El Salvador.

PN143 Donald R. Tapia, of Arizona, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Jamaica.

PN116 R. Clarke Cooper, of Florida, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Political-Military Affairs).

PN141 David Stilwell, of Hawaii, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (East Asian and Pacific Affairs).

PN260 Keith Krach, of California, to be an Under Secretary of State (Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment).

PN105 John Barsa, of Florida, to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

PN101 Richard C. Parker, of North Carolina, to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

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Congress Demands Pompeo Turn Over Documents on Political Targeting of @StateDept Employees

March 19, 2019 By in Career Employees, Congress, Govt Documents, Mike Pompeo, Oversight, Political Appointees, Politics, Pompeo, Realities of the FS, Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State, Senators, SFRC, State Department Tags: , , , ,

 

On March 15, Representative Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Senator Bob Menendez, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations “denounced the State Department’s attempts to obstruct investigations into reports of politically-motivated retaliation against career Department employees.”

In a letter to Secretary Pompeo, they demanded that “the Department comply with past Congressional requests for information on this matter, stretching back over the past year.”

“To date, despite three specific requests and multiple follow-up efforts by our offices, the Department has failed to respond to our requests for interviews or provide any responsive records. After nearly a year, it suggests the State Department is stonewalling a legitimate congressional request for information on matters that are squarely within our Committees’ oversight jurisdiction. We are therefore restating our demand for a response to our prior queries on this matter and are prepared to use appropriate tools at our disposal to prompt a substantive response.”

The congressional demand requires that the Department submit all documents requested by March 21 and facilitate Committee interviews with Department officials implicated in this matter by April 30.

Among the items requested:

(1) all documents and communications referring or relating to any reassignment or proposed reassignment that was considered or ordered since January 20, 2017, of career or civil service employees at the Department;

(2) all documents and communications referring or relating to any proposed or actual reassignment or removal of career or civil service employees at the Department since January 20, 2017, based on alleged personal political beliefs, prior service with previous Administrations, or work on prior Administrations’ foreign policy priorities, including any documents authored by, copying, involving, or referring to:

(a) Christine Ciccone;

(b) Makan Delrahim;

(c) Sean Doocey;

(d) Julia Haller;

(e) Brian Hook;

(f) Edward Lacey;

(g) Matthew Mowers; or

(h) Margaret Peterlin; and

(3) all documents and communications referring or relating to proposed or actual personnel actions since January 20, 2017, against Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, including the curtailment of her detail to the Policy Planning staff.

The congressional request also notes:

“To the extent that the Department may have been relying on a legal theory that our requests somehow lapsed at the end of the 115th Congress, we write today to dispense with that argument and hereby formally restate our prior requests.”

The congressional request asks for transcribed interviews with the following individuals.

A schedule of availability for the Committees to conduct transcribed interviews with each of the following individuals, with the first interview to be conducted no later than April 1, 2019, and with all interviews to be conducted no later than April 30, 2019:

(a) Christine Ciccone;

(b) Makan Delrahim;

(c) Sean Doocey;

(d) Julia Haller;

(e) Brian Hook;

(f) Edward Lacey;

(g) Matthew Mowers;

(h) Margaret Peterlin;

(i) Andrew Veprek;

(j) John Zadrozny; and

(k) Kevin Moley

This request has been overgrown with grass;  some of those they want to interview are no longer in Foggy Bottom. It looks like Congress sent their first request on March 15, 2018, two days after Tillerson was fired in a tweet. The full statement from Rep. Engel and Senator Menendez is available here. The letter to Secretary Pompeo is here.

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