Among the nine positions slated for elimination or retirement: the special envoy for the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program (the talks haven’t been held since 2008); the special envoy for the Colombian peace process (the Colombian government signed a peace deal with left-wing guerrillas last November); the personal representative for Northern Ireland issues (the Good Friday agreement that ended the conflict was signed in 1998); and the special envoy for the closure of Guantanamo detention facility (closing the detention center that holds terrorism suspects was an Obama administration priority; President Trump supports keeping the facility open). Additionally, the responsibilities of positions such as the special coordinator for Haiti or the special envoy for climate change, and the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, will be performed by the relevant regional bureaus at the State Department.

This reorganization was a longstanding recommendation of the American Academy of Diplomacy, an organization of former U.S. diplomats, which in a 2014 report, American Diplomacy at Risk, cited special representatives and similar positions as part of the reason for a decline in morale at the State Department. Among its recommendations, the academy said, “special envoys, representatives, coordinators, etc. should be appointed only for the highest priority issues and should be integrated into relevant bureaus unless special circumstances dictate otherwise.”

John Campbell, a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria who is now at the Council on Foreign Relations, told me there is a mixed reaction, in general, within the State Department to special envoys.

“Special envoys are outside the normal State Department structure,” Campbell said. “Their activity can result in a certain amount of policy incoherence.”

A State Department official said of the 66 positions outlined in the letter to Corker, Tillerson plans to retain 30 envoys and representatives; 21 envoys and representatives will be integrated into regional and functional bureaus; nine will be eliminated; and five folded into existing positions. One position will be transferred to USAID, the official said.

Tillerson outlined plans to retain three positions—the ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, and special presidential envoy for hostage affairs—and organize them within the appropriate bureaus at State. He also said he would retain and expand three others—the ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, ambassador-at-large and coordinator of U.S. government activities to combat HIV/AIDS globally, and special envoy for Holocaust issues. There were also plans, he said, to “dual-hat” other positions, which means one official will manage two allied functions.