Department redesign worth undertaking

Rex Tillerson has embarked on a “redesign” of the State Department. The secretary of state seeks efficiencies, a streamlined staff and, ideally, improved responsiveness.

The effort has not been going well, as many news accounts indicate. Now members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, are raising concerns. ...

The American Foreign Service Association reports that leading career officers have been leaving at alarming levels, 42 percent at the level below ambassadors.

More, the freeze has brought a dramatic drop in entry-level hires, those new foreign-service officers who start accumulating expertise and experience.

Meanwhile, nominations for undersecretaries and assistant secretaries have been slow to arrive, many positions still vacant.

... The president declared about the role of the State Department, “I’m the only one that matters, because when it comes to it, that’s what the policy is going to be.”

What the president doesn’t seem to grasp is that the department is there to help in understanding and decisionmaking.

It has performed that task for administrations of both parties, professionals first serving their country. Consider almost any current area of concern, the Middle East, China, North Korea, yes, Russia, and the department offers unique and essential skills.

Unfortunately, the diplomatic ranks are depleted. Department morale is low. Much of the problem stems from the president. Yet Tillerson has contributed, his pursuit of a redesign diminishing the diplomatic corps, as his relationship with the president suffers.