Pompeo Ends FOIA 'Surge' That Sidelined Hundreds of Diplomats

Government Executive: In the latest sign of change in State Department management under Secretary Mike Pompeo, officials this week confirmed that the department has ended the practice of involuntarily transferring high-level career employees from specialized jobs to the office that handles Freedom of Information Act requests under what was an unusual “surge” to whittle down the backlog of FOIA requests.

Many career employees perceived the transfers, which began under then-Secretary Rex Tillerson, as a kind of banishment or retaliation for their involvement in programs supported by the Obama administration that had fallen from favor in the Trump administration.

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