Senior Administration Official Guessing Game: The State Department Reorg
For today's episode, check out Glenn Kessler's article in today's Washington Post, a gossip-ridden discussion of some recent reshuffling at the State Department. Kessler writes:
A State Department reorganization of analysts involved in preventing the spread of deadly weapons has spawned internal turmoil, with more than half a dozen career employees alleging in interviews that political appointees sought to punish long-term employees whose views they considered suspect.
Senior State Department officials deny that and say an investigation has found that the proper personnel practices were followed. Butthree officials involved in the reorganization, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, acknowledge that a merger of two bureaus reduced the influence of employees who were viewed by some political appointees as disloyal to the administration's policies.
"There are a number of disgruntled employees who feel they have been shoved aside for political purposes. That's true," saidone of these officials. "But there was rank insubordination on the part of these officers."
Later on in the article, the article quotes a different official -- one who is disgruntled over the reorganization:
"The suspicion is we would undermine the policy," saidone of the officials who have felt sidelined. "That is what all of us find most offensive. We are here to serve any administration."
Finally, the article refers to a relatively junior official who was promoted ahead of his time, apparently because the powers-that-be appreciated his skepticism of the International Atomic Energy Agency:
[A] relatively junior Foreign Service officer, who is outranked by several officials in the bureau but who is considered skeptical of the IAEA, was named acting head of the office. Last year, two months before ElBaradei and the IAEA were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the official sent an e-mail to his colleagues ridiculing the idea. The subject line read: "A Nobel for the IAEA? Please."
You know the drill: send us your guesses as to the identities of these anonymous officials, by email (subject line: "Guessing Game"). (And consider it your good deed for the day: as suggested by another article in today's Post, anonymous sources are overused in this town!)