Bush administration musical chairs

At long last, Condi will finally have a #2. John D. Negroponte, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., is leaving his current post as Director of National Intelligence to return to the State Department, this time as Deputy Secretary of State. President Bush is expected to formally announce the nomination tomorrow. There’s been much ado about Negroponte’s decision to step down from a Cabinet-level position as the nation’s first intelligence czar to a job that’s technically lower-ranking.

Frankly, that debate misses the point entirely. The real intrigue is: Why didn’t the Bush administration fill the State Department slot sooner? That post has been empty since the summer. Meanwhile, diplomats have been fleeing Foggy Bottom left and right. Condoleeza Rice could sure use the help. Everywhere around her, there are vacant seats. She’s been without a #2 at the State Department for months. She has no Counselor. She has no Ambassador to the UN. She has no Under Secretary for economic, business and agricultural affairs. She’ll be losing her ambassador in Iraq.  And rumor has it, she’ll be without someone at USAID too. These are all very high-ranking positions, and leaving them empty seems irresponsible to say the least, especially when Bush’s foreign policy has been increasingly under attack. In fact, the only one who seems to be keeping things running these days is Nick Burns.

Here’s a little background. Last July, Robert Zoellick stepped down to return to the private sector. In early November, Josette Sheeran Shiner, then the Under Secretary for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, left Foggy Bottom to become the head of the UN’s World Food Program. A couple weeks after that, Condi’s trusted counselor, Philip Zelikow, said he was leaving to go back to teaching. A week later, John Bolton announced he would not be considered for renomination as ambassador to the U.N. And then, in a rumor that went almost unnoticed last month when everyone was busy stuffing themselves with turkey, Zalmay Khalilzad was said to be stepping down as ambassador to Iraq. And sources tell FP that the unpopular USAID head and Director of Foreign Assistance Randy Tobias will also likely leave in the next few months.

Chances are, there will be some more high-level job-switching in the administration. Already, Bush officials have said that Retired Vice Admiral Mike McConnell will take Negroponte’s intelligence gig. Khalilzad will probably become representative to the U.N., since he’s widely respected and deserves a cushier post after serving time in Kabul and Baghdad. Ryan Crocker, ambassador to Pakistan, may become ambassador to Iraq. But that still leaves some crucial posts empty. The president would do well to act quickly to fill them, as he has only has two more years to redeem his foreign policy track record.