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Scores of senior career diplomats are resigning from the State Department effective at noon on Monday after receiving instructions to do so from President-elect Donald Trump's aides, said three U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
The forced departures, aimed at establishing a decisive break from the Biden administration, will see an exodus of decorated veterans of the Foreign Service, including John Bass, the undersecretary for management and acting under secretary for political affairs, and Geoff Pyatt, the assistant secretary for energy resources, said the officials, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel decisions ahead of Monday's inauguration.
Requesting the resignations, the prerogative of any incoming administration, indicates a desire to quickly shift the tone and makeup of the State Department as Trump seeks to upend the global diplomatic chess board after four years of President Joe Biden. Key priorities for Trump include imposing sweeping tariffs on allies and adversaries, ending the war in Ukraine, solidifying the wobbly ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and deporting millions of undocumented immigrants.
"It is entirely appropriate for the transition to seek officials who share President Trump's vision for putting our nation and America's working men and women first. We have a lot of failures to fix and that requires a committed team focused on the same goals," said a spokesperson for the transition team.
The State Department declined to comment.
On Friday, the Trump team made clear to many of the department's career officials serving as assistant secretaries and in other high-level positions that they would not be needed beyond Monday.
Some incoming presidents choose to keep a larger stable of career diplomats in senior roles until handpicked political appointees receive Senate confirmation. Instead, Trump has authorized the selection of more than 20 "senior bureau officials" to take over various divisions where leadership posts are being vacated this week. A number of those officials served in key roles in the State Department and the National Security Council during the Trump's first term, and some have been pulled out of retirement, said officials familiar with the matter.
The hiring of the senior bureau officials was first reported by Fox News. The departures of Bass and other key officials had not been previously reported.
Trump campaigned on dismantling what he has called the "deep state" of federal bureaucrats whom he views as lacking loyalty and undermining his agenda. He has pledged to kill workforce protections for thousands of government employees in a move expected to face significant legal challenges.
His pick for secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), said the State Department needs to prioritize Trump's "America First" agenda, and he vowed to make the department "relevant again."
"What has happened over the last 20 years under multiple administrations is the influence of the State Department has declined," Rubio said at his confirmation hearing last week. "We have to be at that table when decisions are being made, and the State Department has to be a source of creative ideas and effective implementation."
One senior official who was asked to resign said he was willing to serve longer to help bridge the gap but underscored that this is Trump's call to make. "We should all wish the new team success," the official said.
A second diplomat who was asked to resign said the Trump team handled the matter professionally and made clear the request wasn't personal.
"They want to have people in place whom they've worked with before who are known quantities," the official said.
One such official is Lisa Kenna, who heads the State Department's intelligence arm called the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Kenna worked as the executive secretary for then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. She is expected to reprise that role and serve also as acting under secretary for political affairs. The latter job is one of the most challenging in the building, overseeing regional bureaus from Asia to Latin America to Africa to Europe. "They're both full-time jobs," one official said.
Kenna did not respond to a request for comment.
Last week, Trump's aides asked three senior career diplomats who oversee the department's workforce and internal coordination to resign in a move reported by Reuters. The career officials were Dereck Hogan, Marcia Bernicat and Alaina Teplitz.
The top diplomat for East Asia, Dan Kritenbrink, served his last day as assistant secretary on Friday and will retire Jan. 31. Kritenbrink, like Bass, Pyatt and other career officials, served in influential positions under both Democratic and Republican administrations.
Another career diplomat said the forced resignations are occurring "a little quicker" than in previous administrations but that it is common for a new administration to eventually pick new career diplomats for Senate-confirmed positions like those held by Bass and Pyatt. Other officials expressed frustration that the request to resign, on the Friday before the inauguration, came with little warning and they have no indication whether they may apply for other jobs within the department.
It's unclear how far the Trump administration will go in rooting out perceived enemies at Foggy Bottom, which Trump often calls the "Deep State Department."
The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, has told reporters that pushing back against "woke" bureaucrats should be a priority.
Anyone "nefariously supporting a radical agenda … should be aware that we'll be looking for them," he said last week, "and we will be looking for creating authorities to make sure that their existence doesn't continue in the State Department."