Trump appointment of junior official to oversee State Department personnel meets resistance
By Matthew Lee - April 7, 2025
WASHINGTON
(AP) — The appointment of a junior foreign service officer to serve as
the senior official in the State Department’s personnel office is facing
opposition and concern from current and former U.S. diplomats and their
union.
The American Foreign Service Association, which
represents U.S. diplomats, the American Academy of Diplomacy and
numerous current foreign service officers expressed concern Monday about
last week’s appointment, which comes amid heightened anxiety over
potential widespread firings of career personnel as
the Trump administration slashes federal jobs.
Both
organizations said the appointment of Lew Olowski, who joined the
foreign service in 2021, to temporarily run the State Department’s
Bureau of Global Talent is an affront to the long-held standard that the
post be occupied by either a current senior or retired career diplomat.
The appointment of Olowski, a lawyer, has raised eyebrows among current
diplomats because of his numerous pro-Trump and anti-immigrant writings
in conservative publications over the past several years that have been
widely shared among internal group chats.
“Placing
an untenured, entry-level officer who has only served one complete
overseas tour into this critical role, even in an acting capacity, not
only disregards that tradition but also sends a clear message about the
value this administration places on experience and professional
progression,” AFSA said in a statement. The association added that it
was “deeply concerned” by the appointment.
State
Department officials said last week that Olowski’s appointment, while
untraditional, was not a harbinger of mass layoffs in the department and
that he would only be in the job for a short time until a permanent
successor can be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the director general
of the foreign service.
Those officials noted that there was no
longer a requirement for personnel chiefs to be career employees of
their agencies and stressed that Olowski is, in fact, a career officer,
albeit one with only four years of experience.
That
did not assuage the American Academy of Diplomacy, which is made up of
many retired foreign service officers and called Olowski “unqualified.”
“Avoiding
Senate confirmation by establishing the officer as a ‘senior bureau
official,’ a position without legal sanction, makes a mockery of the law
and generations of diplomats of the Foreign and Civil Service, who have
served under difficult conditions and sometimes given their lives in
the service of our nation,” the academy said.
The State Department didn’t immediately comment on the criticism of the appointment.