Thomas Jefferson, our first Secretary of State started off with a very small staff and absolutely no knowledge.
There are 285 diplomatic facilities, 65,000 employees and only 195 countries in this world. We have far too many employees in State.
DoS has long since outlasted its usefulness and purpose. Back in the day of Jefferson, it took weeks and months to travel the world. So, of course their needed to be embassies and staff to advance America’s agenda, policies, treaties and protect America’s interests.
Now, with air travel being what it is, with communications being what they are, the country doesn’t need hundreds of employees, most of whom do absolutely NOTHING, to be on the government payroll, nor their spouses getting do-nothing jobs, in the embassies.
I worked for those clowns, doing security for them in Baghdad. Nothing but a bunch of Anti-American, radicals that love living in foreign countries on the taxpayer dime. When ISIS was advancing on Baghdad, they evac’d all non-essential personnel from the embassy. Apparently it was hundreds of people. If they’re non-essential, what in the f*ck are they doing there in the first place?
So many people have no idea what we’re paying for. We have Leftist college kids getting jobs as FSOs, so they can live in foreign countries, to do absolutely NOTHING. State Dept has people that work in the ECON department. What exactly will those people, assigned to the ECON department, while assigned to the US Embassies all over Europe, tell any of the bankers or government officials about their banking systems. Those banking systems have been in existence longer than ours.
What exactly would a State employee do in trade negotiations? Pretty much, all of them have never had a real job. I like Trumps plan to send the meanest motherf*ckers from Wall St, to do that job. Not some Leftist, who knows absolutely nothing about business and trade.
Realizing that the Sec of State is 4 or 5, in order of succession if a catastrophic event happens, so I don’t think we could or should get rid of it. But, it should morph into a position where it manages and helps out with the businessmen that should be doing the negotiating on the countries behalf and handling its customary role with VISA and Passports and helping American citizens, while they’re overseas.