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Rex Tillerson delivered farewell remarks to the State Department on Thursday, saying "this can be a very mean-spirited town" 10 days after President Donald Trump fired him. "We're all just human beings trying to do our part," he said, urging in his closing for people to do an act of kindness for one another each day. "This can be a very mean-spirited town," Tillerson said, drawing laughter and applause. "But you don't have to choose to participate in that. Each of us gets to choose the person we want to be and the way we want to be treated and...

Two top House Democrats allege that high-level political appointees in the State Department and senior White House officials have worked with conservative activists to purge from the agency career officials deemed insufficiently loyal to President Trump. A letter sent Thursday to White House chief of staff John Kelly and Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan alleges that political appointees at the State Department have characterized career officials in "derogatory terms." Among the descriptors used for certain career officials were "a leaker and a troublemaker" and a "turncoat," the letter from Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) reads, citing...

GOP Senator Rand Paul publicly announced his total opposition to President Trump’s nominees to head the State Department and the CIA on Wednesday; saying he’s “going to do everything” he can to block them from office. According to Politico, the outspoken Senator revealed his intentions while speaking with reporters at the US Capitol, saying people “complain sometimes about the filibuster” but added he plans to use the procedural maneuver to derail the nomination process. “People complain sometimes about the filibuster, they complain about trying to obstruct… “I’m going to do everything I can to block them,” said Paul. “I’m perplexed...

On my first show for MSNBC last June, I sat down at Langley with CIA Director Mike Pompeo, now President Trump’s nominee for secretary of state. A quick read of the transcript will not only explain the sudden change at Foggy Bottom but also should reassure any fair-minded person that a much-needed infusion of talent and presidential trust is on the way. It’s been hard to find anyone in the White House to say a bad word about the character or personality of Rex Tillerson or a good word about his leadership at State. The friction between the White House...

RUSH: Now to Tillerson and all of this going on in Washington. I want to ask you if you remember something. Didn’t the media…? Didn’t the media tell us…? I mean, way, way back. I’m talking here near… It may even be during the transition, but it was around the time Trump selected Tillerson. Didn’t the media tell us that Trump picked Tillerson to be secretary of state as a payback to Russia for Russia helping Trump win the White House? You can look it up. My memory does not fail me. You remember all of those stories about how...

Officials tell the Associated Press that the new US Embassy in Jerusalem will open much earlier than some had predicted. They're working to make the move by May 2018 in celebration of Israel's 70th anniversary.

Washington’s decision to drop Victor Cha as its next US ambassador to South Korea was not due to his disagreement with the Trump administration’s consideration of a limited strike on North Korea, a diplomatic source said Friday. “As far as I know, the reason Victor Cha was withdrawn was not his differing views on North Korea policy,” the source said, asking to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter. “I believe there were many other factors. It is extremely difficult to give a detailed answer on what other factors were,” he said. He refused to discuss his source...

The U.S. State Department on Wednesday urged Poland to re-evaluate a proposed law that would make it illegal to suggest Poland bore any responsibility for crimes against humanity committed by Nazi Germany on its soil during World War II, Reuters reports.

The US embassy in Dublin is under fire and facing fierce questioning from Irish applicants, US-based immigration attorneys and Irish politicians over claims that embassy staff is making “rogue” decisions on visa petitions. Cases heard by Irish Central in particular reference petitions made for E-2 investor visas and O-1 extraordinary ability visas, with one applicant even resolving to travel to another European embassy to have their O-1 petition processed. They did so on the advice of an immigration attorney concerned about the current manner in which their clients are being “aggressively” treated by the Dublin base. “I have been speaking...

US Vice President Mike Pence told Israel’s Knesset on Monday that Washington was intending to bring forward a controversial plan by the Trump administration to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “In the weeks ahead, our administration will advance its plan to open the US Embassy in Jerusalem — and the embassy will open before the end of next year,” Pence said. The intention to move the embassy, which has been condemned by the Palestinians and their Arab allies, was agreed in theory by US lawmakers years ago but was set in motion by US President Donald...

President Donald Trump's claim that the US Embassy in London was ‘sold for peanuts’ appears to have been vindicated after documents reveal that it went for just £315m ($431m) - far below the £500 million ($687 million) experts estimated. When it was sold five years ago property experts said that the market value of the deal was £500m ($680m) and it was thought that this was the sum achieved. The President claimed just before midnight on Thursday in Washington D..C. on Twitter that the reason he cancelled his trip to London to open the new embassy is because 'the Obama...

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman recently asked the State Department to cease using the term 'occupation' to describe Israel's presence in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem, according a report by Kan, the Israel Broadcasting Corporation. According to the report, the State Department objected to the request, but eventually agreed to discuss the matter. Ambassador Friedman described Judea and Samaria as being under an "alleged occupation" in an interview with the Jerusalem Post in September. Later that month, he stated that he believes Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are part of Israel. “I think the settlements are part of...

President Trump is well known for his brash and confrontational style of governing – but it could be the more diplomatic side of his administration generating some of the biggest victories in 2017. Amid all the debate over issues like the travel ban, the border wall and health care, senior officials in the White House and State Department have quietly worked behind the scenes to resolve a major concern of the president: securing the release of American citizens detained by foreign governments and terror groups. “Immediately after President Trump took office, he told Secretary [of State Rex] Tillerson to prioritize...

White House chief of staff John Kelly called the State Department on Thursday to dispel media reports that a plan had been developed to remove Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, agency spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

The White House has drafted and is circulating a plan for the exit of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, CBS News confirms. The plan is for Tillerson, who has been on the job for less than a year, to be replaced by the current CIA director, Mike Pompeo. The White House has not yet decided who would replace Pompeo, but names under consideration include Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, and Robert Harward, former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command. The CIA has no comment on this report. Cotton is trusted by the president and has advised Mr. Trump on foreign policy...

The White House has developed a plan to force out Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, whose relationship with President Trump has been strained, and replace him with Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, within the next several weeks, senior administration officials said on Thursday. Mr. Pompeo would be replaced at the C.I.A. by Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas who has been a key ally of the president on national security matters, according to the White House plan. Mr. Cotton has signaled that he would accept the job if offered, said the officials, who insisted on anonymity to discuss...

from Laura Ingraham

A succession plan appears to be in place after a year of a strained relationship between President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, according to reports. CIA Director Mike Pompeo is in line to take over as the nation's top diplomat "within the next several weeks," The New York Times says, citing senior White House officials.

A tale of sadness and woe from the liberal democrat professionals in the State Department: Mr. Miller got just five minutes with the secretary of state, the former officials said. Afterward, Mr. Miller, a career Foreign Service officer, was pushed out, joining a parade of dismissals and early retirements that has decimated the State Department’s senior ranks. Mr. Miller declined to comment. The departures mark a new stage in the broken and increasingly contentious relationship between Mr. Tillerson and much of his department’s work force. By last spring, interviews at the time suggested, the guarded optimism that greeted his arrival...

December 2017 Foreign Service Journal President’s Views By AFSA President Ambassador Barbara Stephenson I begin with a reminder that we, the members of the career Foreign Service, have an obligation as stewards of our institution to be effective advocates for why diplomacy matters. That requires some skill in explaining how diplomacy works. While raising awareness of and appreciation for the Foreign Service is a longstanding goal, one AFSA has pursued with renewed vigor and impact over the past couple years, the need to make the case for the Foreign Service with fellow Americans and our elected representatives has taken on...