--- title: State Department's Senior Diplomats Resign: Officials description: At least three senior U.S. diplomats at the State Department have left their posts, State Department officials told Reuters on Thursday. canonical: https://time.com/4650481/state-department-officials-resign/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-26T17:15:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T12:38:02.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: At Least 2 Senior State Department Diplomats Resign og:description: It's unclear why the staffers left og:url: https://time.com/4650481/state-department-officials-resign/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf7dc607068a35542/6988b76c0a4a227ee59ccb5e/rex-tillerson-state-department.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Senate Confirmation Hearing Held For Rex Tillerson To Become Secretary Of State og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: At Least 2 Senior State Department Diplomats Resign twitter:description: It's unclear why the staffers left twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf7dc607068a35542/6988b76c0a4a227ee59ccb5e/rex-tillerson-state-department.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # At Least 2 Senior State Department Diplomats Resign > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=b1b807de-8a45-42a7-bae9-843e5f2eab8e&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Rex Tillerson Calls Russia a ‘Danger’ to the Nation [Watch (HLS stream): Rex Tillerson Calls Russia a ‘Danger’ to the Nation](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DP3hxBhw.m3u8) (0:52)  _Published 2017-01-11. He said recent Russian actions "disregarded American interests"_ by [Reuters](https://time.com/author/reuters/) ## Reuters Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:38 PM UTCPublished: Jan 26, 2017 5:15 PM UTC by [Reuters](https://time.com/author/reuters/) ## Reuters Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:38 PM UTCPublished: Jan 26, 2017 5:15 PM UTC (WASHINGTON) – At least two senior U.S. diplomats at the State Department have left their posts, State Department officials told Reuters on Thursday. It was not immediately clear whether their departure was part of the normal transition process when a new administration starts or whether it was a coordinated walkout by diplomats who had served in Democrat Barack Obama’s administration. A week ago, Republican President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, former Exxon Mobil Corp chairman Rex Tillerson, was confirmed by the Senate foreign relations committee. He has yet to be confirmed by the full Senate. The departures will put more pressure on Tillerson to fill these senior posts. Among those whom Reuters has confirmed are leaving, are Gregory Starr, Assistant Secretary forState for Diplomatic Security and Michele Bond, Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs. Tom Countryman, the acting undersecretary for arms control and international security, was asked to leave by Friday, U.S. officials said. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; editing by Grant McCool) **Correction:** The original version of this story misstated the number of officials who resigned. It is 2, not 3. ## Transcript While Russia seeks to respect in relevance from the global stage it's recent activities has disregarded Americas interest. Russia today poses a danger but it is not unpredictable in advancing it's own interests. Russia must know that we will be accountable to our commitments and those of our allies and that Russia must be held into account. for its actions Mr. Tillerson, you've engaged in significant business activities in Russia, so I'm sure you're aware that very few things of a major proportion happen in that country without Vladimir Putin's permission. So I ask, based on your views of Russian politics and your experience, is it possible for something like this, involving the United States elections, to have happened? Without Vladimir Putin knowing about it and >> I think that's a fair assumption. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal? 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