Foreign Policy: Tillerson’s No. 2 Denies Turmoil at State Department
“In a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Monday evening, Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan parried blows on the administration’s proposals to reorganize the State Department and gut the diplomacy and foreign aid budget. … [Secretary of State Rex] Tillerson kickstarted the reorganization process with a months-long ‘listening tour’ of the department, which included an internal survey that some 35,000 employees filled out. Sullivan is in charge of the next phase, which involves reviewing input from the listening tour. The State Department will submit a final assessment of how to reorganize itself to Congress by Sept. 15” (Gramer, 7/18).