Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday she recently urged Mike Pompeo, President Trump’s pick to lead the State Department, to retain senior career officials to handle global crises should he be confirmed.
Clinton, who served as secretary of State from 2009-2013 under former President Obama, said during an event in Michigan that she warned Pompeo against a “purge” of experienced administration officials when he called her recently.
“I told him that I thought he should take a hard look at retaining career diplomats who could advise him. Because you never know what might happen. You never know where the next hot spot or crisis will happen,” Clinton said.
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Clinton said she was “deeply concerned” over the mass exodus of “some of the most qualified foreign service officers” over the past year and a half under recently ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Trump nominated Pompeo, the current director of the CIA, to lead the State Department following a reshuffling of senior advisers and Cabinet officials starting last month.
Should he be confirmed to his new post by the Senate, Pompeo would enter a State Department rocked by a departmentwide restructuring proposal and push by Tillerson for steep budget cuts.
Tillerson, who saw the department’s entire senior administrative team resign when Trump took office, led the State Department for a little over a year.
Clinton said Wednesday she was “happy” to speak with Pompeo, who had once grilled her before a House committee hearing over the 2012 Benghazi attacks.
The Senate will begin confirmation hearings for Pompeo on Thursday.