Vacancies, Low Morale at Trump's State Department Has Left Agency 'Near Collapse'

A top U.S. diplomat wrote in a letter made public on Wednesday that the State Department is struggling to recruit new leaders amid the poor morale brought on by the Trump administration—leading to new concerns about the country’s role on the world stage.

In an essay entitled “Time to Ask Why” in the monthly newsletter of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), Ambassador Barbara Stephenson wrote, “There is simply no denying the warning signs that point to mounting threats to our institution—and to the global leadership that depends on us.”

More than half of the department’s career ambassadors have left their posts since President Donald Trump entered office in January, while other high-ranking officials have also retired or quit in record numbers. As Zack Beauchamp of Vox.com wrote, “The numbers reveal that American diplomacy, the backbone of U.S. global influence, is in a state of near collapse.”

As the administration looks to cut the State Department’s budget by nearly a third, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has also imposed a hiring freeze as he attempts to create a more “efficient” State Department—tasking an outside consulting firm with interviewing employees to determine changes that might need to be made in the agency.