Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the United States' diplomatic representatives to foreign nations,international organizations,and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II,Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution,their appointment must be confirmed by the United States Senate;while an ambassador may be appointed during a recess,they can serve only until the end of the next session of Congress,unless subsequently confirmed.
The United States order of precedence is an advisory document maintained by the Ceremonials Division of the Office of the Chief of Protocol of the United States which lists the ceremonial order,or relative preeminence,for domestic and foreign government officials at diplomatic,ceremonial,and social events within the United States and abroad. The list is used to mitigate miscommunication and embarrassment in diplomacy,and offer a distinct and concrete spectrum of preeminence for ceremonies. Often the document is used to advise diplomatic and ceremonial event planners on seating charts and order of introduction. Former presidents,vice presidents,first ladies,second ladies,and secretaries of state and retired Supreme Court justices are also included in the list.
The Hatch Act of 1939,An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities,is a United States federal law that prohibits civil-service employees in the executive branch of the federal government,except the president and vice president,from engaging in some forms of political activity. It became law on August 2,1939. The law was named for Senator Carl Hatch of New Mexico. It was most recently amended in 2012.
The Bureau of International Organization Affairs (IO) is a bureau in the United States Department of State that creates and executes U.S. policy in the United Nations and other international organizations. It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs. The IO is charged with developing and implementing the policies of the U.S. government with respect to the United Nations and its affiliated agencies,as well as within certain other international organizations. The Bureau of International Organization Affairs was created in order to strengthen the United States involvement in important international relations.
Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State,ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political affairs manage diplomatic missions within their designated geographic regions,plus one assistant secretary dealing with international organizations and one equivalent as the coordinator/ambassador at large for counterterrorism. Assistant secretaries usually manage individual bureaus of the Department of State. When the manager of a bureau or another agency holds a title other than assistant secretary,such as "director",it can be said to be of "assistant secretary equivalent rank". Assistant secretaries typically have a set of deputies,referred to as deputy assistant secretaries (DAS).
Victoria Jane Nuland is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2021 to 2024. A former member of the US Foreign Service,she served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2013 to 2017 and the 18th U.S. ambassador to NATO from 2005 to 2008. Between July 2023 and February 2024,Nuland served as acting deputy secretary of state following the retirement of Wendy Sherman.
Peter Michael McKinley is an American diplomat. A career Foreign Service Officer,McKinley served as U.S. Ambassador to Peru (2007–2010),Colombia (2010–2013),Afghanistan (2015–2016),and Brazil (2017–2018),and then as Senior Adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State (2018–2019).
Michael Richard Pompeo is an American retired politician who served in the first administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018,and as the 70th United States secretary of state from 2018 to 2021. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017.
John Joseph Sullivan is an American attorney and government official who served as the United States Ambassador to Russia from 2020 to 2022,and who previously served as the 19th United States Deputy Secretary of State from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party,Sullivan served as Acting United States Secretary of State from April 1,2018,to April 26,2018,following President Donald Trump's dismissal of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on March 13,2018,until Tillerson's official successor,Mike Pompeo,was sworn in. Tillerson did not officially leave office until March 31,2018. Sullivan,however,was delegated all responsibilities of the Secretary of State beginning March 13.
The Office of Global Criminal Justice (J/GCJ),formerly called the Office of War Crimes Issues (S/WCI),is an office within the United States Department of State.
Donald Trump assumed office as the 45th president of the United States on January 20,2017,and his first term ended on January 20,2021. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
Andrew P. Bremberg is an American attorney and political advisor who most recently served as Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the Office of the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva. He previously served as Assistant to the President and the director of the Domestic Policy Council for U.S. President Donald Trump. Andrew Bremberg's father Vernon Bremberg was arrested and found guilty of first degree aggravated sexual assault of a child in Essex court case number 04003160. He was sentenced July 13,2004 to a mandatory minimum term of 5 years 11 months 12 days.
Thomas Ulrich Brechbuhl is a Swiss-American businessman and former government official,having held the position of Counselor of the United States Department of State from May 1,2018,to January 20,2021. He was appointed by and reported to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,and replaced Maliz E. Beams. Along with the role of Counselor,he served as the Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the Department of State from March to September 2020.
Steven Alan Linick is an American attorney and State Department official who served as Inspector General of the Department of State and led the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of State. In 2013,he was nominated by President Barack Obama and was confirmed by the United States Senate. Linick was removed from office by Donald Trump on May 15,2020,effective in 30 days per federal law,with Stephen Akard appointed acting inspector general in the interim.
Mari Stull is an American blogger,lobbyist,and former Trump administration political appointee to the United States Department of State's Bureau of International Organization Affairs. She is alternatively known as the Vino Vixen and by her maiden name,Mari Dunleavy.
Matthew Stephen Klimow is an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Turkmenistan. On August 31,2020,Klimow assumed office as the acting Inspector General of the Department of State and left on December 11.
In April and May 2020,United States President Donald Trump dismissed the inspectors general (IGs) of five cabinet departments in the space of six weeks. The inspectors general removed were Michael K. Atkinson,Intelligence,on April 3;Glenn Fine (acting),Defense,April 7;Christi Grimm (acting),Health and Human Services,May 1;Mitch Behm (acting),Transportation,May 15;and Steve Linick,State,May 15. In four of the cases the announcement was made late on a Friday night in a classic Friday news dump. In several cases the fired IGs had taken an action which Trump disliked,so that the dismissals were widely described as retaliation. In two other cases,questions were raised about whether the dismissals related to ongoing IG investigations into the conduct of the cabinet secretary in charge of that department. The cumulative firings were often described as a "purge" or as a "war on watchdogs".
This is a timeline of major events in second half of 2019 related to the investigations into the myriad links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies that are suspected of being inappropriate,relating to the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. It follows the timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections before and after July 2016 up until election day November 8,and the transition,the first and second halves of 2017,the first and second halves of 2018,and the first half of 2019,but precedes that of 2020 and 2021.
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