REX TILLERSON/STATE: “Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sent a letter to Congress on Monday [8-28-17] outlining plans to eliminate many of about 70 special U.S. envoys and special representatives at the State Department.
Mr. Tillerson is eyeing several posts that were given prominent roles during the Obama administration, including the special envoy for climate change, the coordinator for cyber issues, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and the lead coordinator for Iran nuclear implementation, overseeing the 2015 nuclear deal.
Mr. Tillerson wants to eliminate about 30 of the titles, shifting the duties of many of them to existing State Department bureaus.
The chief diplomat proposed killing some posts altogether, including a special envoy for the closure of the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay and a transparency coordinator, which was created to improve document preservation after controversy related to the release of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails.
The move is part of a broader effort by Mr. Tillerson to reorganize the State Department. The State Department is expected to present a plan to do so to the Office of Management and Budget by Sept. 15.”
-Felicia Schwartz, “Tillerson Wants to Shed Many U.S. Special Envoy Posts,” The Wall Street Journal online, Aug. 28, 2017 07:31pm