positions

Sami Al-Arian, a professor at Istanbul Zaim University, talks about the Gaza ceasefire deal and the key conditions required for it to hold.

Sept. 19 (UPI) — The U.S. Senate confirmed 48 appointees of President Donald Trump, almost entirely made up of ambassador and sub-cabinet positions.

The lone Senate vote unfolded 51-47 mostly along party lines, after a rule change earlier in the month changed the confirmation process.

Earlier this month, Republican lawmakers passed changes allowing nominees to be confirmed through the Senate in a one group rather than individually.

The term is referred to as “en bloc” and only applies to lower roles like ambassadors, not judges or cabinet positions.

Former Trump 2020 presidential campaign advisor Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Callista Gingrich, the wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, were among the most notable nominees confirmed.

Guilfoyle is the U.S. ambassador to Greece, while Gingrich was confirmed as the American ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Senate Democrats had pushed back against the group confirmation vote. Their Republican colleagues continually accused them of holding up or obstructing the process, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., calling the lead-up “a broken process” and “an embarrassment.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., referred to the result as “a sad, regrettable day for the Senate.”

The group confirmation comes after Senate Republicans earlier this week confirmed White House economic adviser Stephen Miran to join the Federal Reserve Board.

Mrian’s confirmation comes amid vocal concerns about his independence as he will serve in both capacities.

June 13 (UPI) — The State Department was pressing ahead Friday with a reorganization that will see more than 3,400 layoffs of U.S.-based staff in bureaus that cover Asia and the Middle East and across seven divisions, including the office of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which will be letting go 51 employees.

The planned cuts, which were communicated to lawmakers and staff Thursday, provide the first detailed breakdown of the scope of the administration’s bid to tackle “bureaucratic overgrowth,” merge desks to eliminate redundancy and re-think the briefs of bureaus, Government Executive said.

With a 69% cut, Foreign Assistance and Humanitarian Affairs will see the largest workforce reduction with 386 staff laid off and 145 leaving by mutual agreement. Economic Growth Energy and Environment will shed 297 employees, 198 of them layoffs.

Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and Arms Control and International Security will each lose around 22% of their teams, equivalent to 168 and 245 employees, respectively, while Political Affairs will lose 274 staff, 112 of them via layoffs.

The largest cuts are reserved for the department’s Management division, where 897 staff will be laid off, with unit manpower being reduced by a further 796 via resignations on a deferred basis.

Rubio’s so-called “S Family” office will see its staff complement slashed by 240, or 12%, but all but 51 have opted to resign voluntarily, officials said.

The department, which said it planned to complete the changes by July 1, stressed that some staff members will be reassigned, and that the disappearance of any individual’s office from the organizational chart did not mean they were being let go.

It also vowed the human resources team would assist foreign service officers whose next assignment had been axed to find a new position.

In a document prepared for Congress, the State Department said reduction in force, or layoffs, had been carefully designed in line with all applicable laws in a way that would not affect the department’s functions.

“Reductions will principally affect non-core functions, duplicative or redundant offices, and offices where considerable efficiencies may be found from centralization or consolidation of functions and responsibilities,” the department said.

However, a number of offices that had become “prone to ideological capture and radicalism will cease to exist, including the Civilian Security, Human Rights and Democracy division, while the Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and Population, Refugees and Migration offices will be brought into the undersecretary Foreign Assistance and Humanitarian Affairs’ jurisdiction.

A foreign service officer told Government Executive that the changes would leave the division with overall responsibility for humanitarian and foreign assistance totally hollowed out.

Labor strongly opposed the plans, with the American Foreign Service Association — the union that represents staff members — saying it rejected the workforce changes “firmly and unequivocally,” coming at a time when the effectiveness of American diplomacy was already at risk from “an already stretched thin and under-resourced” State Department.

Geoffrey Pyatt, a former assistant secretary of state and U.S. ambassador to Greece and Ukraine, added his voice to the dissenters.

“Inevitably, a lot of the people who will be laid off will be experienced diplomats with hard-earned skills in language and area knowledge,” he told the Financial Times.

Rubio announced his sweeping reorganization of the service, including returements, in April, saying the department had become too big, expensive and bureaucratic in recent decades and needed to drastically slimmed down in line with President Donald Trump‘s priorities.

In a brief firefight at the end of May, a Cambodian soldier was killed along the countries’ shared border.

Thai and Cambodian forces are expected to return to their previously agreed-upon positions on the border after the two governments reinforced their military presence following an eruption of violence that killed a Cambodian soldier.

Thai Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Sunday that both sides hoped the thorny border issue could be fully resolved through a meeting on Saturday of the Joint Boundary Committee, which was set up to facilitate bilateral negotiations.

But Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn reiterated that his government had called on the International Court of Justice to resolve the border dispute.

“Given the complexity, historical nature and sensitivity of these disputes, it is increasingly evident that bilateral dialogue alone may no longer suffice to bring about a comprehensive and lasting solution,” Sokhonn said.

However, Thailand has said it does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction and proposes to settle the matter through bilateral negotiations.

The two countries have, for more than a century, contested sovereignty over undemarcated points along their shared border when France mapped out Cambodia in 1907 when it was a French colony.

Since 2008, when fighting first broke out over an 11th-century Hindu temple, bouts of violence have sporadically occurred, resulting in the deaths of at least 28 people.

In the most recent outbreak on May 28, a Cambodian soldier was killed in the disputed border region between Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province and Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani province.

While the Thai and Cambodian militaries agreed to quell tensions, Cambodia said it could keep its troops in the area despite Thailand urging it to leave.

On Saturday, the Thai army took control of the “opening and closing” of all border crossings it shares with Cambodia, referring to a “threat to Thailand’s sovereignty and security”.

According to government data, Thailand operates 17 official border crossings along the shared 817km (508-mile) frontier.

Earlier on Sunday, the army shortened operating hours at 10 border crossings.