The four top officials who left the State Department Thursday afternoon got a near-unanimous verdict on their exit from Republican House Members: "Good riddance!"
News of the latest in an exodus of career diplomats and State Department personnel following President Trump's election was greeted quite positively by lawmakers attending the House Republican retreat in Philadelphia.
"I would say to [incoming Secretary of State] Rex Tillerson that he is better off without the careerists who won't go along with the president's foreign policy agenda," Rep. Mark Meadows (R.-N.C.) told me.
Resignees included Undersecretary for Management Patrick Kennedy, assistant Secretary of State for Administration Joyce Anne Barr, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Michele Bond and Ambassador Gentry O. Smith, director of the Office of Foreign Missions.
Meadows said he was "especially happy to see Patrick Kennedy go. He was a total devotee of Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state."
"If they decided to leave because they don't want to work for Donald Trump," said Rep. Chris Collins (R.-NY), "That's good for America."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.
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