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The practice of auctioning off American diplomacy to the highest bidder must end. I'm pledging to end the corrupt practice of selling cushy diplomatic posts to wealthy donors—and I call on everyone running for President to do the same. Read my full plan: medium.com/@teamwarren/re…
To take a meaningful leadership position in the world, protect our interests, and avoid conflicts, we need world-class diplomats. But through a toxic combination of malice and neglect, Donald Trump has declared war on the State Department.
Senior career officials at the State Department have been pushed out & others have resigned in protest. We've lost 60% of our career ambassadors & 20% of our most experienced civil servants. Too often they've been replaced with totally unqualified campaign donors & Trump cronies.
The Pentagon is nearly 40 times bigger than the State Department—we employ more people in military grocery stores than we do foreign service officers. Our underinvestment in diplomacy causes our leaders to default to military action, instead of treating it as a last resort.
Our foreign policy should not be run out of the Pentagon. Under a Warren administration, it won’t be. So I’ll start by doubling the size of the foreign service and opening new diplomatic posts in underserved areas to broaden U.S. diplomatic presence.
To do this, we need to recruit a new generation of foreign service officers and retain talented officers. I’ll also significantly expand the pool of diplomatic talent. Today’s foreign service is 79% white and 65% male. Our foreign service must reflect the diversity of the U.S.
Trump has perfected the act of selling swanky diplomatic posts to rich buffoons. He's appointed political cronies to nearly half the available ambassadorial positions. He may think a fat wallet and a big campaign check qualifies someone to represent our country abroad. I don't.
I don’t spend my time at fancy closed-door fundraisers trading favors for money, and I’ll appoint only the most qualified person for the job. In a Warren administration, I pledge not to give ambassadorial posts to wealthy donors or bundlers. Period.
