The Foreign Service Journal, November 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2020 19 not to promote race or sex stereotyping or scapegoating in the Federal workforce or in the Uniformed Services, and not to allow grant funds to be used for these purposes. In addition, Federal contractors will not be permitted to inculcate such views in their employees.” While it is not clear which trainings will be deemed off limits, the impact could be seen immediately in the postponement of at least one training planned at State. State Develops Air Quality Tracking App A ir pollution is a growing health threat in many parts of the world, yet many countries either do not have information that is trustworthy or do not communi- cate current air quality with the public. Current apps and websites do not always make data sources—or the formu- las for describing air quality—available to the public, which can leave U.S. person- nel, American citizens and the broader public confused as to the accuracy or reliability of air quality information. With 90,000 employees around the world, the State Department has a keen interest in this issue. Responding to requests fromU.S. personnel and their families for more accessible air quality data, the Office of Management Strategy and Solutions (M/SS) and the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA) collabo- rated to develop the ZephAir mobile app. The app leverages data collected by the State Department’s more than 60 high-quality instruments, EPA health messaging and real-time alerts to help ensure that American personnel, their families and U.S. citizens abroad have a consistent and trustworthy place to turn for information on current air quality anywhere in the world and advice on actions to take to reduce exposure and health risks. The app allows users to customize their locations of interest and notifica- tions on actions to take that fit their health status and routines. The app displays both pollutant levels and the EPA’s Air Quality Index. Users will gain a clear understand- ing of how clean or polluted the air is and have access to recommended actions to take to mitigate exposure. Users will also be able to understand trends through graphs that show daily and monthly pat- terns in air quality. The app is available now for Apple and Android. Future iterations will bring in data from other governments, Depart- ment of State–owned low-cost sensors and satellite information. State Officials Defend IG Firing U nder Secretary of State for Man- agement Brian Bulatao and other officials testified before Congress on Sept. 16 that President Donald Trump fired Inspector General Steve Linick in May because of poor performance and low morale in his office, and not because of his investigations into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s conduct. But the data they used also showed that employee satisfaction in the inspec- tor general’s office was higher than in many parts of the State Department, including in Secretary Pompeo’s office, the Washington Post reported Sept. 22. Democrats have argued that one reason Linick was fired related to his investigation into Secretary Pompeo’s 2019 emergency declaration to sell arms to Saudi Arabia for $8 billion while side- stepping Congress, as well as allegations that Secretary Pompeo used government resources for personal tasks. “We rely on the role of the IG to serve as a catalyst for effective management and internal controls. Unfortunately, Steve Linick did not fulfill this role,” Bulatao testified. “The IG’s removal was not about retaliation for any specific report or investigation.” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) ques- tioned the claim that Linick was fired for lowmorale. “All of us in this room know what morale is like at his State Depart- ment,” he said. “If lowmorale is reason for someone to be fired, look up, not down.” Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), on the other hand, said that because of Linick’s “sub- stantial and numerous” failures, Demo- crats’ defense of him “runs contrary to our duty to maintain the public trust.” Meanwhile, Acting State Depart- ment Inspector General Stephen Akard abruptly resigned for undisclosed reasons on Aug. 5, less than three months after he was brought in to replace Linick. Akard didn’t say why he was resign- ing. Secretary Pompeo told reporters: “He left to go back home. This happens. I don’t have anything more to add to that.” Akard’s deputy, Diana Shaw, took over the acting IG role after his departure. The State Department has canceled congressional briefings on counterter- rorism issues and the closure of a U.S. diplomatic post in China over the inves- tigations into the firing of Linick, Foreign Policy reported Aug. 18. Contact with WHO S tate has ordered its employees “to sharply curtail diplomatic contact” with the World Health Organization, Foreign Policy reported on Sept. 9. U.S. government personnel overseas must