Conference to go on amid shutdown

Ambassadors plan for Global Chiefs of Mission event

The State Department plans to fly all of its ambassadors and other top diplomatic envoys from around the world into Washington next week for a two-day conference, even if the ongoing partial government shutdown continues.

Most State Department employees have been furloughed or are working without pay since the shutdown began Dec. 22. But the department will pay for travel expenses and other costs related to the forum, called the Global Chiefs of Mission Conference.

The conference is scheduled to take place Wednesday and Thursday, and embassy leaders are expected to be absent for about one week from the countries in which they work. The conference was first held in 2011, when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, and has been held twice since.

The State Department issued a statement that said officials had decided to continue with the conference because “it is essential to the conduct of foreign affairs essential to national security.”

The department noted that Congress recently confirmed 23 ambassadors. It called the conference “particularly important and timely in helping them get off to the right start.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to attend the forum after returning from a long trip through the Middle East. But some former diplomats are criticizing the State Department for pressing forward with the conference.

“The notion that it’s imperative that we have to get all chiefs of mission together is nonsense,” said Brett Bruen, a former U.S. diplomat who also worked in the White House during the Obama administration and now runs a consulting firm in Washington.