The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2020

12 JULY-AUGUST 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Submit letters to the editor: journal@afsa.org In Support of Inspectors General Kudos to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) for blocking two executive-level appointments the administration wishes to make after President Donald Trump fired two inspectors general. The president removed the two from their posts without providing Congress a 30-day notice, including the reasons for their removals, as required by the federal Inspector General Act. Grassley would now like to know the president’s reasons for their removal as a condition for unblocking the appoint- ments of Christopher Miller as director of the National Counterterrorism Center and Marshall Billingslea as under secre- tary for arms control and international security at the State Department. Intelligence Community IGMichael Atkinson was dismissed on April 3 for having forwarded a whistleblower com- plaint to Congress—as required by stat- ute—an action that ultimately resulted in Trump’s impeachment in the House. State Department IG Steve Linick was given the sack on May 15 by Trump at the request of Secretary Mike Pompeo, who chafed at the IG’s inquiries into his approval of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, contrary to the objections of Congress. It seems unlikely that even a loyal Republican like Sen. Grassley, who is a strong supporter of inspectors gen- eral, will be satisfied by the president’s responses—that is, in the unlikely event that any reply at all will be forthcoming. Fred Kalhammer USAID Senior FSO, retired Sun City Center, Florida Amend the 1980 FS Act As a member of the Charlie Bray AFSA Governing Board in the early 1970s, and having helped lead the State Department that a bipartisan Congress would have no objection to such a reconsideration. Useful arguments in favor of finally dumping our up-or-out experiment can be found in FSJ articles I wrote in 2011, 2013 and 2014 that also call for more professionalism and greater teamwork in the Service (and are reproduced in my recently published memoir, So You Want to Be a Diplo- mat? ). I offer the blessings of an ancient retiree for a more effective Foreign Service. George B. Lambrakis FSO, retired Pornic, France There in Spirit We don’t really have a story about responding to COVID-19. We are retired, staying home, trying to keep track of real news. We wish we could be “there” helping the Foreign Service meet all the challenges no one else hears about. We have been there when we were working, and we know and appreciate the unsung heroes of the Foreign Service. Bless all of you. n Phil and Jill Lundy McClendon FSOs, retired Weatherford, Texas FSO campaign that added the role of a labor union to that of professional asso- ciation for AFSA, I was interested to read USAID AFSA VP Jason Singer’s March AFSA News column on the Foreign Service Act of 1980. I admit to being among the many who have never read the 1980 Act, which was supported by an AFSA board dominated by mid- career officers in the late 1970s while I was serving in revolutionary Iran. I didn’t even focus on Section 601: Promotions, which Jason Singer high- lights, prodding his colleagues. And like many others, I was surprised to learn that “up or out,” a doctrine borrowed from the military, had been inserted to guide future FSO promotions. Of course, the 1980 Foreign Service Act includes a provision for exceptions in particular cases, on which I relied: The line for promotions was drawn just above my name after my return from Beirut and Tehran, despite my having served in “stretch” assignments above my grade of FSO-2 (counselor) at both those posts. I was aware that promotions get rarer as one nears the top. But I was to learn that no exceptions would be made in the year that my time in class ran out, while I was serving as an emergency chargé d’affaires in between ambassadors at two African posts. Perhaps it takes unique circumstances like those currently ravaging the senior ranks of the Service to inspire a reconsider- ation of current up-or-out policy. I suspect