UNITED STATES
A partisan war of words has erupted over dozens of US Ambassadorships and senior posts in the Department of State that have remained unfilled for more than a year.
Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo said he’s trying to fix the problem, but blamed Democrats for blocking his efforts in Congress.
“We’ve done our part at the State Department by putting forward a slate of candidates,” Mr Pompeo said.
He blamed ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Bob Menendez (pictured) and his colleagues for blocking nominees and using them as political footballs.
Senior State Department officials, including Ambassadors, require the President’s nomination and Senate confirmation.
Many ambassadorial posts are filled by career diplomats, while some are filled by outside nominees with political or financial connections to the Administration.
Senator Menendez retaliated by saying some nominees weren’t qualified or had things in their background that unnerved lawmakers.
“This is the worst batch of nominees that I think [Democratic] staff has ever seen, and we have decades of experience here,” one senior Democratic staffer said.
“It is truly something else.”
Senator Menendez cited one of President, Donald Trump’s ambassadorial selections, Christine Toretti, the nominee to Malta.
He said she had a restraining order filed against her in 2008 for “placing a bullet-riddled target sheet” in the office of her ex-husband’s doctor.
Senator Menendez said other nominees failed to disclose accusations involving sexual harassment, involvement in lawsuits or Federal investigations, or had made “deeply offensive public statements” about immigrants or women.
Spokeswoman for the Department of State, Heather Nauert said that while some political nominees were facing additional scrutiny, career diplomats were getting caught in the crossfire.
She said by and large, of the 60-some people who had not made it through the Senate, the majority were senior Foreign Service officers.
“Get these people through,” Ms Nauert said.
“Put them up for a vote so the State Department can conduct the diplomacy it needs to do on behalf of the American people.”
Washington, DC, 15 October 2018
