Tillerson spent $12M on consultants at State Department: report

The State Department spent about $12 million on private consultants to help shepherd the agency through former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s much-touted “redesign,” according to documents obtained by Politico. 

In some cases, the consultants charged the department more than $300 an hour, Politico reported Tuesday. Most of the money went to Deloitte as part of a pre-existing federal contract, the news outlet added.

The value of that contract was raised to $265 million from nearly $140 million, according to Politico. While contract ceilings are often not reached, the move offers an insight into the grand ambitions of Tillerson’s proposed overhaul of the department. 

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Another firm, Insigniam, was hired to survey the State Department’s employees around the world about what changes they wanted to see at the agency. According to one document obtained by Politico, the spending on that survey was pegged at $850,000, in addition to travel expenses. Other reports, however, have pegged the cost at more than $1 million.

With Tillerson’s abrupt firing by President Trump last month, the fate of the redesign now appears uncertain. 

The State Department has said it will be up to the next secretary of State to decide whether to continue the efforts. Trump’s pick, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, has not publicly indicated whether he plans to push forward with the redesign.

Continuing some aspects of the overhaul, however, are “no-brainers,” Heather Nauert, a spokeswoman for the department, said at a press briefing in March, pointing to an effort to overhaul and modernize the department’s information. 

Still, Tillerson’s redesign prompted scrutiny from several lawmakers, as well as career officials at the department, who have complained about a lack of transparency in the process.