AAA should apply for one of these positions. Trump administration has yet to fill many US ambassador posts in Europe When Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived at the Vienna airport this week, he was greeted on the tarmac by three deputy chiefs of mission from the U.S. embassies in Austria. Of the three U.S. missions in Austria – the U.S. embassy to Austria, the embassy for Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the United Nations embassy – there isn’t a single ambassador leading the foreign offices 10 months into Tillerson’s term. The State Department has also not yet put forth a name to the White House for nomination to eventually serve as ambassador to the European Union, a major international organization that represents 28 European countries and the largest single market in the world with 200 million consumers. A White House official said they are still in the process of selecting an EU ambassador and it should be announced soon. There are 20 ambassadorship postings — both political appointee and career — still open across Europe. Tillerson's tensions with the White House have only exacerbated the slow pace of the White House's nominating and the Senate's confirming ambassadors, according to a State Department official and a White House Official. “I think it’s a shame,” former U.S. Ambassador to the EU Anthony Gardner told ABC News about the comparatively small number of ambassadors in Europe. “Some of these posts are quite important, particularly now.”
So what’s the issue. Ambassador’s are political appointee’s and are not involved in day-to-day operation. Historically some of embassies have gone without ambassadors for years. Ambassadors are typically politically appointees who are being rewarded with an ambassadorship in a foreign country as a reward for supporting and donating heavily to a President’s campaign. Ambassadors for the most part are just useless figureheads; the state department career people run everything. The only reason a foreign government wants an ambassador is for the prestige and the belief an ambassador can provide a back door channel to the U.S. President.
His job is to economically administer the executive branch of government. Not appointing political flunkies to ambassador posts saves money and probably improves administration.
Yeah because KT McFarland is an expert on Singapore. Give me a break. Trump has appointed hacks and flunkies throughout the government. My favorite is the guy he appointed a federal judge who never saw the inside of a courtroom.