The Foreign Service Journal, November 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2018 15 For someone who cares about institutions and building institutions that will last, it’s heartening tome that someone fromwithin is coming in this position. I’m sure cheering you on today.” —Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Nomination Hearing for David Hale for appointment as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Aug. 16. It is equally important that we adequately fund the State Department, USAID and others so that our diplomats and our foreign assistance advisors can provide a better, more durable alternative to quick Chinese inducements. Only such a multi-faceted approach will truly help us meet the growing challenge that China poses. Understanding and then solving these challenges are upfront investments that will pay unmeasurable dividends in the end. —RankingMember EdMarkey (D-Mass.), Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, in a hearing, “The China Challenge, Part 2: Security andMilitary Developments,” on Sept. 5. Heard on the Hill JOSH USUN Ambassador Nikki Haley, National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a press conference on the margins of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 24. DEPARTMENTOFSTATE Nikki Haley Resigns O n Oct. 9 U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced her resignation, saying that she would leave her post at the end of the year. The announcement has led to considerable speculation. Sources close to Amb. Haley said there was nothing suspicious about the timing, insisting Haley merely wanted to make the announcement before the midterms to give the president ample time to choose her successor before year’s end. CNN commentators suggested three other reasons Haley might have decided to resign. In an Oct. 9 column, the news outlet suggested she was upset at being “edged out” by John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Or, they said, not- ing she is more than $1 million in debt, she might simply need to make some money in the private sector. Finally, CNN brought up the most talked-about reason: Haley might be Oct. 8—the day before Haley submitted her resignation—a federal government watchdog, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, asked the State Department to investigate whether the U.N. ambassador broke any regulations by accepting multiple flights on private jets belonging to three South Carolina executives. Haley was also reprimanded by the Office of Special Counsel in Sep- tember 2017 for using her official Twitter account to advocate for a political candi- date in direct violation of the Hatch Act. And then there was “Curtaingate,” launched by the Sept. 13 New York Times article calling out the $52,701 the State Department spent to equip her New York residence with customized mechanized curtains (initially ordered during the Obama administration). Otherwise, however, her tenure as U.N. ambassador has been relatively blemish- free and her favorability ratings are much higher than those of the president. An April 2018 Quinnipiac University poll showed 63 percent of American voters considering a run for the presidency in 2020 or 2024 and wanted to leave while still relatively unscathed. Another possible reason is that on