The team of newly elected US President Donald Trump has requested the resignation of some high-ranking diplomats from the State Department, The Washington Post reports, citing its sources.
These measures are intended to demonstrate the “decisive differences“ between the outgoing and the new administration.
According to the publication, "dozens of diplomats" will resign at noon on January 20, after receiving instructions from Trump aides. The forced resignation is said to affect, in particular, the US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs John Bass, as well as the Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Jeffrey Pyatt.
One of the diplomats who was asked to resign told the newspaper on condition of anonymity that the Trump team "has approached it professionally". According to him, the new administration "wants to have people with whom it has worked before". As the publication notes, Lisa Kenna, who was the Executive Secretary of the State Department during Trump's first presidential term, is expected to take the post of Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs.
Trump's inauguration will take place at noon on January 20.