David Brooks: “I Doubt There’s Much Waste And Abuse In The State Department”
AMNA NAWAZ, PBS NEWSHOUR: I do want to ask you both briefly as well about the mass firings at the State Department we reported on earlier. That follows a Supreme Court ruling that basically cleared the way for the Trump administration to move forward with those reductions in force. What’s going to be the impact here, David? DAVID BROOKS, NEW YORK TIMES: Yes, I was once having lunch with a buddy of mine in the State Department. And he was a political appointee. And he said: “I thought this was about foreign affairs, but this institution is really about foreign relations.” And what he meant by that, it’s not about policy. It’s about building relationships with people in other governments. And that really is – to get something done, it’s not enough – you have to be able to call them on the phone. You have to have a history of trust. And so our diplomats out there have been doing this for decades. And they have built relationships with their counterparts around the world, with other people. And if you take away that relational element, anybody in any business understands this, you have taken away a lot. And so we have not seen a rapid increase in federal employees. It’s been pretty stable for a long time. And so I doubt there’s much waste and abuse in the State Department. But we’re suffering with those loss of those relationships.
