Democrats Urge Trump To Reverse Recall Of Nearly 30 Ambassadors

A senior department official on Monday described the mass recall as "a standard process in any administration."

WASHINGTON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Democratic senators urged President Donald Trump on Wednesday to reverse a recall of nearly 30 career ambassadors, warning the move leaves a dangerous leadership vacuum that allows adversaries like Russia and China to expand their reach.

The Trump administration in recent days has ordered more than two dozen career diplomats serving across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America back to Washington to ensure U.S. missions abroad reflect its “America First” priorities.

Calling the abrupt mass recalls an “unprecedented move” that no other administration has done since Congress established the modern Foreign Service a century ago, 10 Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said there was no plan to replace them with qualified candidates.

The removals bring the number of empty U.S. ambassadorial posts to well over 100, about half of all such posts worldwide, the senators said in their letter addressed to Trump and seen by Reuters. The senators said 80 posts had been vacant before the decision.

State Department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the letter. A senior department official on Monday described the mass recall as “a standard process in any administration.”