Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is lifting a State Department hiring freeze that was in place for more than a year, he announced Tuesday.
“The Department’s workforce is our most valuable asset,” Pompeo wrote in an email to employees, according to CNN. “We need our men and women on the ground, executing American diplomacy with great vigor and energy, and representing our great nation.”
Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson halted most new hires at the outset of his effort to overhaul the diplomatic bureaucracy, a decision that contributed to poor morale at the State Department. Pompeo has made a point of breaking with his predecessor on such management issues, drawing praise even from his Democratic critics.
“The United States cannot protect ourselves against foreign threats without diplomats, so I’m glad that Secretary Pompeo is lifting the hiring freeze,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member for the Foreign Relations Committee who voted against Pompeo’s confirmation, said Tuesday. “Utilizing every part of our foreign policy toolkit — both military and diplomatic — is the only smart way to forge a world that is safe for Americans.”
The lifting of the hiring freeze will permit an infusion of new civil and foreign service officers, even as Pompeo fills out the roster of political appointments. “A graduation gift for [Georgetown University School of Foreign Service]?’ Dean Joel Hellman tweeted.
The former CIA director and House Republican lawmaker is also interviewing candidates for the Senate-confirmed senior leadership positions at the department. “It’s really incredible how many vacancies there are,” Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Elliot Abrams told the Washington Examiner shortly after Pompeo’s confirmation. “It’s more like starting fresh.”
