Drain the Swamp: Time to End Selling of Ambassadorships
Dear President-elect Trump:
In the early years of our republic the area of the District of Columbia known as Foggy Bottom was a marshy tidal plain. The marshes were drained to make way for construction. Over time, it came to host the Department of State, Kennedy Center and other notable landmarks.
A common refrain in your quest for the presidency was, "Drain the swamp!" You can start at Foggy Bottom. Water is not the issue, but corruption is. The United States is the only industrialized country to award diplomatic posts as political spoils, usually to wealthy campaign contributors in an outmoded system that rivals the patronage practices of banana republics, dictatorships and two-bit monarchies. A similar system once allowed political allies to become military officers, but Congress outlawed the practice after the Civil War when the public recoiled at the needless slaughter brought on by incompetent cronies who had been appointed political generals. Representing the United States in a foreign capital, however, is a privilege still available to any moneyed dolt with party connections.
The selling of ambassadorships and senior Department positions to fat cat campaign contributors is a shameful American tradition. Under President Obama, some 30 percent of ambassadorships have been given to Democratic Party cronies, usually in exchange for campaign contributions. The number of top jobs at Foggy Bottom occupied by career Foreign Service officers, moreover, has gone from 60 percent down to 30 percent over the years. The result has been a State Department bureaucracy bloated with make-do offices staffed with political cronies with questionable missions all drawing government salaries and benefits. More than at any previous time in our history, State has been treated as a patronage waste dump. Republicans have been as guilty as Democrats.
It is exactly this kind of legalized insider corruption that has turned Americans against Washington and to cast their votes for you.
Under the current administration, in exchange for over $2 million dollars in campaign contributions, the wife of a prominent tv soap opera producer with no relevant qualifications was made U.S. ambassador to Hungary. A Democrat campaign bundler was awarded the ambassadorship to tiny Iceland in exchange for $1.6 million - or five bucks for every Icelander. Another cash bundler was made ambassador to Argentina in exchange for a measly half-a-million bucks. And he speaks no Spanish. Germany is a major ally. Our current ambassador in Berlin is an entertainment lawyer who got the job after shelling out just under $3 million. And he speaks no German. And the list goes on and on. The world's only superpower carries out much of its diplomacy with folks who wouldn't have made first cut on Celebrity Apprentice. Transgressions by amateur pay-to-play ambassadors include cocaine smuggling through the diplomatic pouch, drunken imbroglios at embassy functions, solicitation of underage prostitutes and embarrassing adulterous affairs. To be fair, some political ambassadors have done a marvelous job representing their country. But why put the nation's national security in the hands of amateurs when you have a corps of highly trained and dedicated career diplomats to do the job?
As you no doubt are aware, there is some trepidation among many federal workers about serving in your administration. A poll conducted earlier this year revealed 25 percent of federal employees would consider quitting rather than work for you. The anxiety is especially pronounced at the State Department. One senior diplomat told me he would rather quit than run the risk of facing a war crimes tribunal from carrying out a reckless foreign policy under a Trump presidency. You can earn his and other federal workers' loyalty and trust by putting in place a sound foreign policy manned by truly qualified individuals as opposed to political hacks who bought their positions.
During this transition period, you will be approached by many individuals angling for ambassadorships or other high offices. As president it is your prerogative to choose your own team. But in your pursuit of the office of president, you went against not only the opposing party, but against your own party's establishment as well. And you disavowed money from special interests to run your campaign.Your commitment to reduce the role of lobbyists and lobbying is a bold and welcome first step toward reform. Please follow it up by pledging not to put government positions up for auction to the highest bidders. Drain the swamp indeed.