State Dept. at War with Trump Administration

At the heart of the simmering tension is the failure of Tillerson to fill key openings in State staff and indications his senior staff is ignoring and “trashing” candidate lists provided by the White House.

Because the positions remain unfilled, holdovers from the Obama team are consolidating their power and influencing policy.

Those lists [of candidates] literally go nowhere,” according to one veteran Republican foreign policy operative familiar with the situation. “It’s like a sham process. And the reason is not because the White House isn’t behaving professionally. It’s because Tillerson isn’t professional at all.”

A key example of the stalemate is State Department policy toward Israel. Recent terror attacks against Israelis have sidelined any hope the Trump administration had of restarting peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel.

Just hours after a Palestinian terrorist murdered several Jewish civilians, the State Department told the Free Beacon that it is not clear what motivates such violent acts. The statement sparked anger within the administration and on Capitol Hill, where many viewed the State Department’s declaration as a sign the agency is openly rebelling against the White House.”

Not clear what motivates such acts? It’s perfectly obvious to anyone with a semblance of a brain.

Observers see State paralyzed by “massive dysfunction.” Administration supporters are disheartened by what appear to be the White House’s inability to control federal agencies.

Foggy Bottom is still run by the same people who designed and implemented Obama’s Middle East agenda,” the source said. “Tillerson was supposed to clean house, but he left half of them in place and he hid the other half in powerful positions all over the building. These are career staffers committed to preventing Trump from reversing what they created.”

Critics point to Stuart Jones, the acting assistant secretary of state for near east affairs, as a prime example. He has emerged as Tillerson’s “go-to guy” on the Middle East, which puts the secretary at odds with the president on key policy positions.

Tillerson should have spent time and effort working to help the president undo the Iran deal,” said one GOP insider briefed by administration officials on the situation. “Instead, he’s apparently spending time and effort trying to prevent the president from undoing the Iran deal. And in the meantime he’s elevated the Arabist bullshit artist Stuart Jones to a position of influence in the building—a guy who was perfect for the job in the Obama administration.”

As a result of the brewing tensions, some observers wonder if Trump will become as disappointed in Tillerson as he has in Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Rumors have circulated that Tillerson may decide to leave his post, but State spokeswoman Heather Nauert says her boos is “deeply engaged” in his work.

What some fear is he may be “deeply engaged” in undermining his boss and pursuing a hard pro-Arab, anti-Israel line in setting policy.

The White House has declined comment on the DC gossip regarding State’s open war on the Trump administration.

Source: Washington Free Beacon