16 JUNE 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL that tradition but also sends a clear message about the value this administration places on experience and professional progression,” AFSA said in an April 7 press release. The American Academy of Diplomacy echoed the alarm, calling Olowski “unqualified” and criticizing the administration for circumventing Senate confirmation by installing him as a “senior bureau official,” a designation without formal legal standing. “Avoiding Senate confirmation ... makes a mockery of the law and generations of diplomats who have served under difficult conditions,” the academy said. Olowski, a lawyer by training and a former senior counselor at the Department of Homeland Security during the first Trump administration, has drawn additional scrutiny for his past writings in conservative publications, many of which criticized U.S. immigration policies. State Department officials defended his appointment, pointing out that Olowski’s appointment is temporary, and that he remains a career officer. Olowski’s arrival comes amid heightened anxiety across the State Department’s 70,000-strong global workforce. President Trump, backed by key allies like Elon Musk, has already eliminated thousands of federal positions across agencies and directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to revamp the Foreign Service to ensure what he called “faithful and effective implementation” of administration policy. Meanwhile, broad leadership changes continue at State. Notably, Career Ambassador and former Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Tibor Nagy, who was recalled to service by the new administration as undersecretary for management, stepped down after less than three months in the role. Excellence Above All Mr. Hankinson [a senior research fellow at Heritage Foundation] said it correctly, I don’t care what my heart surgeon looks like, I care about whether or not he or she is the best at what she does. So, when you say that “if we only base it on merit, that’s a mistake,” I disagree. I think having the best and the brightest, regardless of what they look like, is the only thing that should matter. —Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing, “Deficient, Enfeebled, and Ineffective: The Consequences of the Biden Administration’s Far-Left Priorities on U.S. Foreign Policy,” April 8, 2025. The Price of Retreat Any member who has traveled around the world and met with world leaders and met with ambassadors knows every time the United States removes a dollar from foreign aid, every time we withdraw and create a vacuum, China is coming in and making more friends than the United States, having more leverage, having more influence. —Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing, “Deficient, Enfeebled, and Ineffective: The Consequences of the Biden Administration’s Far-Left Priorities on U.S. Foreign Policy,” April 8, 2025. 21st-Century Department for 21st-Century Threats The reason we promote diversity in our diplomatic corps, from the most senior ambassadors to the most junior foreign officers, is because we need their experience, we need their perspective. … Merit counts, it’s imperative. But if we say merit is the only thing, then we end up with a State Department that looks like it did in the 1940s. That’s not what we want. We want a State Department that is prepared for the challenges of 2025 and the century ahead, with a rising China, a threatening Iran, and a threatening Russia. —Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing, “Deficient, Enfeebled, and Ineffective: The Consequences of the Biden Administration’s Far-Left Priorities on U.S. Foreign Policy,” April 8, 2025. Foreign Exchange Programs These foreign exchange programs are really some of our strongest soft power assets. They are great human capital investments that help promote American values and create lasting partnerships. —Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), during a Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing on nominations, April 8, 2025. JOSH Heard on the Hill
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODIyMDU=