Opinion

Kerry’s missing crew

Secretary of State John Kerry is worth some $200 million, give or take a yacht. So his decision to slap a 5% pay cut on himself in solidarity with government employees squeezed by sequestration won’t likely hurt him much. But he’s saving taxpayers another way, too — if unintentionally. And it’s downright troubling.

How else is Kerry saving money? He’s failing to hire folks to fill key spots at his agency. Terrific.

Think about it: With the North Koreans threatening nuclear strikes against America — and Kerry himself preparing to visit South Korea this week — wouldn’t it be a tad helpful to have a top adviser running the East Asia bureau?

Alas, there’s nobody home there: The assistant secretary who heads that office departed in February to run a consulting firm.

Ditto for nearly a dozen pivotal positions, as Foreign Policy magazine has reported. Indeed, the list is scary: The top official in State’s Middle East bureau left last August and hasn’t been replaced, even as Kerry is touring the Middle East this weekend. The Africa bureau’s boss left in March. The special envoy for Sudan left last year, as did the one for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Kerry has had two full months to appoint captains to protect US interests abroad. But as Foreign Policy notes, there’s “angst” at the agency because “the process to fill [the posts] seems indefinitely stalled.” That should set alarms ringing.

After the Sept. 11 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, a State Department panel blamed the deaths of four US citizens there on a “lack of proactive leadership” within the Diplomatic Security bureau. Three officials in that office were removed in December — but not one has been replaced.

It’s hard to have “proactive” leadership when you don’t have “proactive” leaders.

Most of these offices are being run by temporary fill-ins — lower-level officials doing their bosses’ jobs without approval from the Senate.

In other words, key offices remain undermanned and are being run by folks without formal, official vetting — or the authority that goes with it.

Kerry is failing one of the most fundamental jobs for any leader. Whatever money he winds up saving surely won’t be worth the price.