Do we really need these?? What do they do....Make copies??
When Tillerson was running Exxon didn't he have executive vice presidents and vice presidents? Didn't he have a Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer? Or did he run the whole corporation out of his hat? Any chief executive needs assistants who are experts in their given area to advise him on what needs to be done and handle things that don't necessarily need his attention. That's what Assistant Secretaries do.
If Tillerson has shown anything, he's not very good as a Secretary of State. Trump needs someone to ride herd on these areas because Tillerson sure can't do it.
...they used to make coffee but now they have assistants that run out to Starschmucks.
I can see their usefulness and importance. Government is a top down entity. specialized secretaries are needed for regions and topics as a whole. One person cannot do or decide it all .... just keep the oversight working properly and it’s okay.
They make appointments to meet with their equally feckless, talentless counterparts of other regimes.