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WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has canceled what would have been his last official overseas trip as concerns grow about potential violence during next week’s presidential inauguration, the Presidential Inauguration announced on Tuesday. state department.
Less than 18 hours after announcing that Pompeo would be traveling to Brussels this week to end his tenure as top U.S. diplomat, the department said it had cut all high-level overseas travel, including that of the secretary. Pompeo was due to meet with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and Belgium’s foreign minister in Brussels. Initial shutdown plans in Luxembourg had already been scrapped due to the coronavirus pandemic, officials said.
Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said the move was made to help with the transition to the new Biden administration, which will take office on January 20. on the safety of Biden’s inauguration. Officials said the cancellation of Pompeo’s trip was intended to support the transition and was unrelated to fears of violence.
“The State Department is well advanced in its efforts to transition with President-elect Biden’s team,” Ortagus said in a statement. “We are fully committed to a smooth and orderly transition process that will be finalized over the next 8 days. The President-elect’s department and team have been fully committed for several weeks to this end, and we are satisfied with the level of cooperation and professionalism that has been demonstrated.
Pompeo, who was criticized for not immediately recognizing Biden’s victory over Trump in the November election, met his designated successor, Antony Blinken, last week in what a State Department official called cordial meeting.
“We are awaiting a plan from the new administration shortly identifying career officials who will remain in senior positions on an interim basis until the Senate confirmation process is completed for new officials,” Ortagus said in the statement. communicated. “As a result, we are canceling all trips scheduled for this week, including the Secretary’s trip to Europe.”
In addition to Pompeo’s trip, the department canceled a scheduled visit to Taiwan by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft, as well as several other trips planned by senior officials this week.
The department’s top career diplomat, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale, who is No. 3 in the hierarchy, is expected to serve as Acting Secretary of State from noon on January 20 until ‘Blinken be confirmed by the Senate.
The department announced Monday evening that Pompeo would go to Brussels on his last trip abroad.
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