State Department cuts China policy staff amid major overhaul
The hilarious parts extracted for convenience, because it reads like a whining and crying article.
The State Department officials who cried and whined to WaPo were most likely SFS who lost staff to these layoffs or were close to someone who did. Just about no seasoned bureaucrat, regardless of nationality, is
ever happy to see their staff reduced, and usually by extension, their budget slashed.
The Trump administration is likely shooting itself in the foot as usual, but such layoffs also aren't
guaranteed to be "a good thing" for countries presumably impacted like China or Burma.
Well this wasn't mentioned by WaPo, certain responsibilities and authorities
may be passed onto, if not centralized at other agencies like DoD or CIA (or even under a senior White House staffer like Andy Baker or Robert Gabriel) due to cuts at State, especially once you factor in the
.
Unsurprisingly, CIA and DoD officials are reputed to prefer more aggressive and dangerous courses of action than their typical sister agency counterparts, which can be
perilous, in particular if amplified by the relative inexperience (e.g. Hegseth is a major who never even held company command prior to confirmation as SecDef), never mind the unpredictability, of the Trump administration.
Though as recent
, an overly influential or assertive DoD can also make for a double edged sword, especially when negotiating with anxious foreign partners:
