Posted on 01/12/2019 7:22:03 PM PST by 11th_VA
As the partial government shutdown stretches on with no clear end in sight, it’s affecting US embassy staff around the world — and making it harder for the US to conduct diplomacy abroad.
Many of the State Department’s roughly 75,000 employees — 50,000 are employed locally in US embassies abroad — have found trouble progressing with their work and even, in some cases, struggling to put food on the table while they wait for the White House and Congress to strike a deal. That’s a big problem, since the State Department is America’s leading foreign relations agency. It now means that American foreign policy is, at best, running on fumes.
The partial shutdown began in December, after President Donald Trump demanded around $5 billion for a border wall, a request Democrats have refused to comply with. The shutdown poses an optics problem for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is currently on a crucial trip to the Middle East to reassure allies that the US won’t fully withdraw from Syria. He and his wife — who has accompanied him to the region — will rely on the work of staff who aren’t getting paid to make the trip successful.
(Full disclosure: My wife works at the State Department.) ...
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
Hang in there President Trump, they will break ...
The longer the govt is shut down just tells us how many of these people we really don’t need.
Who other than these parasites are really feeling any pain? I know I’m not.
What is NIST?
Wait didn’t the Dept of State just give Honduras $10Billion?
National Institutes of Science and Technology.
CC
Maybe they can get some money from Hillary Clinton.
She “lost” what, $6,000,000,000 when she was Secretary of State?
75,000 employees? Doing what? Evidently, they are “non-essential” so get rid of 90% and call it a day.’Nough said.
BS.
They should look in the couch cushions of Hillary’s old office.
Probably a billion or two there.
“..Many of the State Department’s roughly 75,000 employees — 50,000 are employed locally in US embassies abroad...”
Talk about BLOAT on the back of the U.S. taxpayer. We need a HUGE dose of limited government badly...
Some of the people I spoke with expressed anger that their livelihoods are now threatened over a border wall fight. Interestingly, others don’t seem to mind too much. “I still prefer this to Trump getting a single penny for a wall,” one official said.(emphasis added)
non essential state department hacks hit the hardest.
NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology . Heavily involved with defining weights and measurements - used to be the Bureau of Standards.
Former Bureau of Standards.
Am I supposed to feel sorry for 50,000 foreigners that won't get paid because Democrats won't fund a wall and Border security for our country?
Sorry but my Give-a-Sh!t is broken and won't be fixed until after a wall and Border security is funded.
Ask State how many times embassy personnel keep moving to different housing because someone senior comes in, and they can't live in quarters that is below the standards of the incumbent?
Waste of money. Also....get rid of their maids. And gardeners. And drivers. Learn to live like an American. It would actually go a long way in earning the respect of the host government.
Best news I’ve heard all day for that un-American fever swamp to be hurting.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.