Quitting On Donald Trump? Top State Department Officials Resign Before Rex Tillerson Possibly Takes Over

Four top and long-standing State Department officials who have served both Democrat and Republican administrations resigned Wednesday, the Washington Post reported. The reason behind the sweeping resignations is a “matter of dispute” within the department according to the report.

As of yet unconfirmed Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson, who’s faced criticism for his ties to Russia while heading up Exxon Mobil, was at the department’s headquarters in the Washington neighborhood Foggy Bottom and taking meetings while the resignations occurred.

“It’s the single biggest simultaneous departure of institutional memory that anyone can remember, and that’s incredibly difficult to replicate,” David Wade, former chief of staff to now-ex-Secretary of State John Kerry, told the Post. “Department expertise in security, management, administrative and consular positions in particular are very difficult to replicate and particularly difficult to find in the private sector.”

Though he was hoping to keep the position while President Donald Trump transitioned to the White House, now former State Department undersecretary for management Patrick Kennedy headlined the group of departures, state officials told the Post. He had served in that role for the nine years but is expected to retire from foreign service at the end of the month.

On top of Kennedy, Assistant Secretary of State for Administration Joyce Ann Barr, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Michele Bond and director of the Office of Foreign Missions and Ambassador Gentry O. Smith also left the department.

The loss of such top and experienced officials could be more than cumbersome when it comes to managing the country’s vast foreign relations network, no matter if Tillerson is confirmed by the Senate or not.

Trump, who has unleashed a number of executive orders during his first six days in office and is reportedly set to sign one that would ban immigration to the U.S. from a number of predominantly Muslim countries, has faced criticism for his handling of foreign affairs and leaders.

Most notably, Trump’s angered China as well as major U.S.-trade partner Mexico, whom he’s threatened by possibly pulling out of the North American Free Trade Agreement and demanded pay for a massive wall along the countries’ shared border.