Questions Remain on How Reorganization Will Affect Key Communications Position at State
The Trump administration, which targeted the State Department for cuts, nevertheless is likely to name a U.S. coordinator for international communications (CIC) and information policy, former government officials said. The coordinator, who carries the title of ambassador, has roles including helping select the next ambassador to the Wireless Radiocommunications Conference in Geneva in 2019. Questions remain since the administration is looking at reorganizing State. Secretary Rex Tillerson appeared before Senate appropriators Tuesday.
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President Donald Trump hasn't nominated anyone to fill the CIC position, as is true of many State Department positions other than the secretary and deputy secretary, as the White House contemplates a reorganization of the agency. Trump doesn’t want to nominate anyone to any of the subsidiary roles until the reorganization is complete, Republicans said. The White House didn't comment.
“There are a number of very good Republicans who would make an excellent coordinator and I am sure that industry would like to see one named,” a former State Department official said. “It would be a mistake not to fill the position.” The CIC plays a key leadership role for the administration at conferences, and big ones coming up include the World Telecommunications Development Conference in Buenos Aires in October, the 2018 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Dubai and the WRC, the former official said. The CIC also represents the U.S. at meetings including the Mobile World Congress and regular bilateral dialogues with key countries, the former official said: “Someone has to coordinate the interests that are tested at these gatherings from across the agencies.”
State is being reorganized and some change is likely under Trump, a second former international official said. “It is unlikely that CIC will disappear or that there will be no ambassador/U.S. coordinator largely because there is a strong congressional interest in having someone like that who is Senate confirmed.”
The Trump budget for FY 2018 proposes cutting State’s budget 28 percent. State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said during a hearing with Tillerson the administration’s proposed cuts were too deep. Ranking member Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., raised similar concerns. “I’m not blaming you, I’m not blaming anybody,” Graham said. “I just want the country to know I think this budget request is in many ways radical and reckless.” But Graham also said he would be the secretary’s “champion” for reforming the department.
“I am listening to what my people tell me are the challenges facing them and how we can produce a more efficient and effective State Department,” Tillerson said of the reorganization. “We will see the world for what it is, be honest with ourselves and the American people, follow facts where they lead us, and hold ourselves and others accountable.
The CIC has had a high profile in recent administrations. Daniel Sepulveda, who had been an adviser to then-Secretary Hillary Clinton, held the job during the second half of the Obama administration, and veteran lawyer Philip Verveer, who later went to work as a top aide to then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, was CIC in the first half. David Gross is widely seen as raising the profile of the office when he served throughout the George W. Bush administration. Vonya McCann, now a senior vice president-government affairs at Sprint, held the job under then-President Bill Clinton.
“If the United States wants to be at the forefront of 5G in the world, it needs to have the right people at the table with other government entities that set the global telecom rules,” said Roger Entner, analyst at Recon Analytics. “Not nominating a CIC is not going to be helpful.” The administration hasn't "prioritized State Department functionalities or hires,” said Doug Brake, senior telecom policy analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. “It’s not clear whether these positions will languish long-term or are simply awaiting a broader reorganization. Either way, strong U.S. representation at various conferences is important and the U.S. coordinator position should be filled. ...To under-invest in key State Department roles now would be a mistake."
“The harder part may be getting someone serious to take the job with everything so uncertain,” said a lawyer active on international issues. A former FCC spectrum official said another possibility is that State would appoint acting ambassadors for key conferences rather than a permanent CIC.