Overview
- The administration has ordered nearly 30 Senate-confirmed career ambassadors from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America to return to Washington.
- Ten Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee sent a letter urging reversal, saying vacancies will rise to well over 100, roughly half of all posts.
- A senior State Department official defended the action as a standard process in any administration and tied it to advancing the president’s America First agenda.
- The American Foreign Service Association called the mass recall unprecedented and highly irregular, citing abrupt phone notifications and roughly 90 days for reassignment.
- The recalls follow a directive to revamp the Foreign Service and July workforce cuts exceeding 11%, with critics warning China and Russia could gain ground in places such as the Philippines, the Western Balkans, sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt, Guatemala and Guyana.