Rex Tillerson announces partial easing of State Department hiring ban

Despite reports that President Trump plans to replace him as soon as the end of the year, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson sought to head off low morale at the State Department Tuesday, asserting in a townhall meeting that he’s “learning to enjoy” his role as America’s top diplomat.

Mr. Tillerson drew applause from auditorium packed with rank-and-file career foreign service officers at the department’s Foggy Bottom headquarters by announcing an end to what had been his unpopular hiring freeze on “eligible family members” of diplomats posted around the world.

The freeze has been a source of frustration for months because it prevented spouses of U.S. diplomats posted overseas from being hired at U.S. embassies. While its lifting is likely to ease some concerns, officials later clarified that a wider freeze on nonfamily members will remain in place for the time being.

Mr. Tillerson focused most of his remarks on trying to quell unease over his reorganization plans and his embrace of looming Trump administration budget cuts for the diplomatic corps and American foreign aid agencies.

The secretary of state drew more applause when he said a streamlined process will ease the delay in approving security clearances and spoke of other changes that will allow teleworking for those on medical leave and eventually move the department’s notoriously outdated computer systems into the “cloud.”

Mr. Tillerson separately said it’s untrue he plans to shutter any U.S. embassies, though he acknowledged some missions — including high-profile embassies in Paris, London and Rome — would likely be downsized as personnel are reallocated to parts of the world with more pressing crises.

The longtime ExxonMobil chairman also conceded that there are deep concerns within the department about his reorganization plans, and that progress on key foreign policy priorities has been slow so far. “Do we have any wins to put on the board? No. That’s not the way this works,” Mr. Tillerson said. “Diplomacy is not that simple.”

Still, he claimed the Trump administration had made more progress than previous administrations in pressuring China over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and was working aggressively to use a flawed nuclear deal to hold Iran accountable.

Mr. Tillerson spoke off-the-cuff about other sensitive administration foreign policy moves, asserting at one point that it will be at least three years before President Trump’s order to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem will be carried out.

While he also expressed openness toward working with Russia, Mr. Tillerson acknowledged in more explicit terms than he previously has that Moscow meddled in last year’s U.S. election — an acknowledgment that could trigger a negative reaction from Mr. Trump, who generally dismisses the Russian meddling narrative.

“Russia chose through hybrid warfare to interfere with democratic processes here,” Mr. Tillerson said, adding that other Russian meddling, in Ukraine, has “probably the single most difficult issue.”

“When left unaddressed, it stands in the way of our ability to re-establish this relationship,” he said.

Tuesday’s event was highly anticipated among the career diplomat ranks in Foggy Bottom, where unease has swelled amid rumors the president is dissatisfied with Mr. Tillerson, who had no formal diplomatic experience before being tapped by Mr. Trump for the job.

Late last month, administration officials said privately Mr. Trump was considering replacing the secretary of state with CIA Director Mike Pompeo within weeks. The president would then tap Army combat veteran Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, to take over at Langley, The New York Times first reported.

Mr. Tillerson has faced behind-the-scenes resentment over his embrace of Mr. Trump’s call for 30 percent cut to the department’s budget. A number of key lawmakers on Capitol Hill have also publicly complained about the administration’s plans for the deep cuts.

⦁ This article is based in part on wire service reports.