Trump Cleans House At Highest Level Of State Department

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By Saagar Enjeti

The Trump administration accepted a large swath of senior State Department officials resignations Wednesday, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Thursday.

Toner’s statement came in response to a Washington Post story which posited that senior State Department officials resigned en-masse. The story was followed hours later by a CNN report that the administration had fired four senior managers.

Toner’s statement instead makes clarifies that political appointee’s within the Department of State always submit their resignations as a matter of protocol. These resignations can then either be accepted or denied by the incoming administration. Moreover some of the officer’s whose resignations were accepted will not retire from the State Department but will instead move into other roles within the career foreign service.

Matt Lee, the Associated Press’s state department correspondent noted for context that only 1 undersecretary of state stayed in the transition from the Clinton to Bush administration.

A little perspective: Only 1 Under Secretary of State (Alan Larson) stayed through the transition from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush.

— Matt Lee (@APDiploWriter) January 26, 2017

Refilling the positions will likely be one of the first duties of Secretary of State designate Rex Tillerson when he is confirmed by the full senate. Tillerson’s confirmation is expected next week, after he was favorably recommended by the Senate Foreign Relations committee.

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