Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Congress looks to strengthen hand in State Department following impeachment
The Hill ^ | Mon 17 Feb 2020 | Laura Kelly

Posted on 02/17/2020 6:17:57 PM PST by yesthatjallen

High-profile dismissals of U.S. diplomats who participated in the House impeachment inquiry are raising questions about what oversight authority Congress has to push back on the president's actions.

American diplomats serve at the “pleasure of the president” but charges of political retribution, campaigns of disinformation and threats to personal safety are prompting some members of Congress to call for more concrete protections for the officials.

“Choosing who serves on your team is one thing. Kicking someone out because they're not loyal to your personal political agenda is another,” Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said during a speech at the Brookings Institution, last week.

Menendez is working on a handful of proposals crafted in response to the impeachment trial against the president. The reforms target what he views as the most troubling instances of abuse of power in foreign policy and against the diplomatic corps.

Included among these reforms is a proposal to give Congress more power to investigate and question the removal of senior career foreign officers, setting up a greater tension between the legislative and executive branches.

“It is time the State Department tells us before it removes a career diplomat, why it is doing so,” Menendez said.

SNIP

(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ambassadors; deepstate; menedez
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-50 next last

1 posted on 02/17/2020 6:17:57 PM PST by yesthatjallen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: yesthatjallen

Trump should have fired every Obama holdover. no questions asked. no apologies.


2 posted on 02/17/2020 6:20:20 PM PST by BipolarBob (Joe Biden: "We can't let Trump keep on making America great".)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BipolarBob

I’m pretty sure Obama fired all of Bush’s ambassadors.


3 posted on 02/17/2020 6:21:19 PM PST by Sacajaweau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: yesthatjallen
“It is time the State Department tells us before it removes a career diplomat, why it is doing so,” Menendez said.

Maybe you need to go see your eye doctor, Bob.

4 posted on 02/17/2020 6:22:40 PM PST by aposiopetic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: yesthatjallen
“It is time the State Department tells us before it removes a career diplomat, why it is doing so,” Menendez said.

No, it’s not. On second thought, maybe they could tell that rat 🐀 bastard about it, and fire them 30 seconds later. 😁

5 posted on 02/17/2020 6:26:02 PM PST by Mark17 (Father of US Air Force Officer in pilot training. Air Force aircraft, go faster than Army tanks)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aposiopetic

“It is time the State Department tells us before it removes a career diplomat, why it is doing so,” Menendez said.

Yeah ok. Go you know what bob.

Ain’t he the one that likes little kids?


6 posted on 02/17/2020 6:26:51 PM PST by dp0622 (Radicals, racists Don't point finger at me I'm a small town white boy Just tryin' to makne ends meet)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: yesthatjallen

Foggy Bottom is one of the cesspools in the swamp and has been for decades.

Progress there is almost impossible to achieve.


7 posted on 02/17/2020 6:28:58 PM PST by Paladin2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: yesthatjallen

How’s this Numbnut gonna get this through a Republican majority? Oh wait.


8 posted on 02/17/2020 6:29:43 PM PST by HighSierra5
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: yesthatjallen

All B/S. The president controls foreign policy per the constitution.


9 posted on 02/17/2020 6:30:05 PM PST by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: yesthatjallen

Congress needs to investigate Foreign Aid Corruption in Congress.


10 posted on 02/17/2020 6:30:12 PM PST by Paladin2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: yesthatjallen

The State Dept. is not an independent branch of government.

It is a cabinet position under the executive branch.


11 posted on 02/17/2020 6:30:23 PM PST by a fool in paradise (Everyone knows Hillary was corrupt, lied, destroyed documents, and influenced witnesses. Rat crime.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: yesthatjallen
“Choosing who serves on your team is one thing. Kicking someone out because they're not loyal to your personal political agenda is another,” Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.)

This sentence is carefully crafted to make no sense at all.

What about "Choosing who serves on your team because they're [ ] loyal to your [ ] political agenda"?

Isn't that what Menendez does when he chooses the staff that will execute his agenda?

And what if he chose wrong, or they change their minds, and he has disloyal staff? Would he keep them around? I don't think so.

And note the insertion of "personal" before "political agenda". Democrats' political agendas flow from pure altruism, whereas Republicans' political agendas are always "personal".

12 posted on 02/17/2020 6:30:44 PM PST by edwinland
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: yesthatjallen
“Choosing who serves on your team is one thing. Kicking someone out because they're not loyal to your personal political agenda is another,” Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), ...

No, it's not, you kiddie diddler.

13 posted on 02/17/2020 6:31:41 PM PST by TigersEye (MAGA - 16 more years! - KAG)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dp0622

we need the names of the congressmen who had sex charges hushed up with 20 million dollars in taxpayer money

before election day


14 posted on 02/17/2020 6:33:15 PM PST by a fool in paradise (Everyone knows Hillary was corrupt, lied, destroyed documents, and influenced witnesses. Rat crime.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: dp0622

First, it’s not removing a career diplomat. It’s removing an ambassador who happens to be career foreign service and returning her to her desk job in Foggy Bottom because she did not please the president in her representation of the President’s foreign policy.


15 posted on 02/17/2020 6:33:17 PM PST by AndyJackson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: yesthatjallen

.....“It is time the State Department tells us before it removes a career diplomat, why it is doing so,” Menendez said.”....

Uh oh! They’re really scared as Trump continues to purge the corruption out of State......that Dept was left ‘Quote’..”In a hell of a mess” after Hillary left it.


16 posted on 02/17/2020 6:33:29 PM PST by caww
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: edwinland

Choosing who sleeps in your bed is one thing, Bob. Choosing one not old enough to have a driver’s license is another.


17 posted on 02/17/2020 6:33:30 PM PST by Rastus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Jim Robinson
All B/S. The president controls foreign policy per the constitution.

And he can change policy and personnel as he chooses.

18 posted on 02/17/2020 6:34:12 PM PST by yesthatjallen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: yesthatjallen

President Trump should fire EVERY state dept employee or appointee who is known to be a leftist loser tonight...most of them. It will make the USA a better place.


19 posted on 02/17/2020 6:35:11 PM PST by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp???)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: yesthatjallen

“Congress” needs to study the Constitution!

What is it about three separate but equal branches of government that they don’t understand?

“Congress looks to strengthen hand in State Department”. Really? Will Congress acquiesce to the Executive choosing Congressional Committee heads, or the Speaker of the House?

Idiots! No, evil power-mad despots.


20 posted on 02/17/2020 6:36:06 PM PST by BwanaNdege ( Experience is the best teacher, but if you can accept it 2nd hand, the tuition is less!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-50 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson