How many Ambassadors, Foriegn Diplomats, etc., etc., etc., do we have for every country?

Politics
23

This is decidedly untrue.

What they did is question…rightfully so…whether Trump was running his own game.

Contrary to popular belief, the President is not the sole arbiter of our foreign policy.

This whole thing started when people in the Exec branch questioned whether the President had the authority to hold up the aid package. It had passed all the mandated checks…there’s nothing in the aid authorization package that gives the President carte blanche to hold it up for his own reasons.

Exec branch members may report to the President.

That does not mean they must obey him without question.

They don’t swear allegiance to him. If they feel he is exceeding his authority, it is their duty to report on it.

24

Ok. And?
You aren’t implying that if foreign service bureaucrats believe that what the President wants done is wrong, they should stick around on their posts and undercut him, are you?

25

Who else is an arbiter?

26

In the case of the aid package to the Ukraine?

Congress.

27

:popcorn:

28

Tom Cotton

1 Like
29

That is decidedly untrue.

30

Let me ask it this way…if you worked as a State department official and you were told the president is secretly offering Putin a million dollars to help his re-election- would you

1- resign and say nothing to anybody about it.
2- report it and fight for the rule of law based on the Constitution.

31

Nope.

True.

The outlines of how the aid package was to be checked out was in the aid package.

If it passed those checks it was to be sent out.

Nothing in that package gave the President the power to hold the aid package up.

32

No, it is decidedly untrue.

If a member of Congress wants to implement a foreign policy, what does he have to do?

33

No? Then what in a package gave Biden the power to threaten to hold it up?

34

That is not the case in requesting information from a foreign country (i.e. and investigation). So, you are talking about an actual criminal act, like a President ordering the killing of an American citizen overseas? Yes, in a case like that if the person is told to perform an illegal act they should refuse and report the act, just as a serviceman cannot perform an illegal act.
Asking for information was nothing like that.

Oh…and “you were told”. Does that mean I was told by the President or I heard it as a rumor by a bunch of gossipy coworkers?

35

The president can deny those funds that congress approved.

36

I’d mind my own business, do my job and tell my coworkers to quit gossiping.

37

Ok- thus why I linked to the poll that said 70 percent of Americans think it was wrong.

You may try and parse it but it’s pretty plain that this was wrong. You may say it’s not impeachable and we could go from there- but to say it was good and not reportable flies in the face of objective fact and overwhelming public opinion.

38

What exactly do they do on a daily basis? Also, how much do they make?

39

“Wrong” is not the criteria of whether they are to carry out their orders. They may disagree with a foreign policy but they need to be ordered to do something illegal before they get to have a fit.

40

I already told you what they do.

I don’t know what they make, their pay is public information.

41

The duty of State Department officials is to the Constitution and country first, not to the president. And yes if the president is doing something that is unequivocally wrong, it should be reported and investigated. We don’t live in a monarchy- would you agree?

42

If the policy is kept hidden from them and run through the President’s personal lawyer and an Ambassador that isn’t the Ambassador of the country in question, can you blame them for thinking that something is off?

Especially when the policy that is being pushed is for the political benefit of the President and not for furthering the interests of the US?