The State Department resumes its formal press briefing this week — an event that offers Secretary of State Rex Tillerson an ideal setting to appear before the public, assert to the world that America remains a diplomatic force and reassure his jittery employees that their work matters to the new administration.

But Tillerson is not likely to show up, according to acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner.


America’s chief diplomat so far appears allergic to the spotlight. His aloof approach to his job is eroding confidence in him at the State Department, multiple sources told POLITICO, where staffers are upset about President Donald Trump’s mixed foreign policy messages and his plans to significantly cut the agency’s budget.

“It’s making me anxious,” said one State Department official who, like most others serving, requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Tillerson’s relative silence has been further compounded by the fact that the State Department’s traditional daily press briefing has been on hiatus since Trump took office. It was supposed to resume Monday, but it was postponed until Tuesday because of developments involving a newly revised executive order on immigration issued by Trump.

The briefing is monitored carefully by other governments seeking a sense of U.S. foreign policy priorities. The long silence has irritated American diplomats who have watched other foreign ministry spokesmen, including those representing U.S. rivals such as Russia, try to seize control of narratives without State being able to respond.

Early indications are that the format of the briefing will change in notable ways during Tillerson's tenure. Toner confirmed he’ll handle the briefings for the time being. For the first week, at least, reporters will be briefed Monday through Thursday, but on two of those days the session will be done via telephone instead of the traditional in-person gathering.

In the past, the briefing has been held every business day, with some exceptions, and the secretary of state has used it to make an occasional appearance to talk to reporters.

Toner is a career member of the Foreign Service with plenty of experience dealing with reporters. But he'll face an unusually tough task explaining the Trump administration's foreign policy given the president's shifting positions on everything from NATO to how the U.S. should deal with Russia.

The department spokesman’s role is expected to eventually go to a political appointee. Bloomberg News reported over the weekend that Fox News anchor Heather Nauert has been selected for the job. State officials did not respond when asked to confirm the story.

Last week, the Trump administration unveiled a budget proposal that it said would boost defense spending by $54 billion while cutting other federal agencies. A source familiar with the issue told POLITICO the plans included a 37 percent cut to the combined budget of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Many State staffers had expected a restructuring, especially as word filtered out that Trump aides want the department to focus more on counterterrorism and less on softer subjects. In generally well-received remarks to State Department employees after he was confirmed, Tillerson himself predicted there would be changes, saying "we cannot sustain ineffective traditions over optimal outcomes.”

But the size of the proposed budget reductions has been a gut punch, and some fear the reorganization could be more extensive than they’d imagined.

The Associated Press reported that Tillerson has agreed in principle to the cuts, but wants to spread them out over three years to soften the impact, which nonetheless would still be dramatic. State Department press aides sidestepped questions about Tillerson’s views on the proposed cuts.

Tillerson may be playing a long game. The former CEO of ExxonMobil has little diplomatic experience and is still learning about the composition of a department with more than 75,000 employees across the world. He's also been in the job for only a few weeks. He also knows that both Republicans and Democrats in Congress will likely push back on Trump’s proposed budget cuts, whether or not he speaks up.

But to some, Tillerson's outward silence implies consent. Amid the confusion and rumors, some State staffers say they wish Tillerson would hold a town hall or similar forum simply to clarify things. “It’s an outrageous cut,” one U.S. diplomat said. “It doesn’t speak to [Tillerson’s] having much heft within the administration.”

Some say that Tillerson's behind the scenes approach doesn’t necessarily indicate a lack of influence. It’s more in line with how he dealt with issues while at ExxonMobil. Considering how erratic the president himself can be on certain foreign policy topics, Tillerson may deem it safer not to say things in public that might end up contradicting his boss and further confusing foreign capitals carefully watching for infighting in the administration.

“I’m rooting for him,” one State Department official said of Tillerson, noting that the people who remain the most zen about the situation are those who have served in multiple administrations. “Colleagues who have briefed him are impressed. They find him thoughtful, inquisitive and professional,” the official added.

State sources say, however, that career staffers seem to have a shrinking amount of access to the secretary. Seventh-floor offices near Tillerson that used to belong to career employees — including that of the State Department counselor, a position Tillerson may not fill — have been emptied and retrofitted with cubicles expected to go to political appointees.

So far, it appears the White House has tremendous sway over who surrounds Tillerson. Trump vetoed Tillerson’s choice for deputy secretary of state, former George W. Bush administration official Elliott Abrams, because of his past criticism of the president.

According to State’s press division, Tillerson is making his presence felt behind the scenes. He “has had 32 separate phone conversations with representatives of various countries, 15 in-person meetings with foreign interlocutors here in the United States, as well as calls and meetings with U.S. government personnel, showing a deep commitment to coordinating with the White House and other federal agencies and obtaining a diversity of perspectives on issues of public concern,” a spokesman said. The department also issues the occasional comment under Tillerson’s name, including congratulations to other countries on their national days.

When Tillerson does speak publicly, he usually sticks to a script and ignores questions. On Thursday, during an appearance alongside Yukiya Amano, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Tillerson smiled but said nothing as NBC’s Andrea Mitchell lobbed several questions at him before being escorted out of the room, a moment caught on a widely circulated video.

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Tillerson’s decision not to participate in Friday’s roll-out of the department’s annual Human Rights Report was another high-profile opportunity lost, some critics said. It broke with a long-standing tradition of secretaries of state unveiling the report during an on-camera press conference, and it vexed staffers and human rights activists who considered it an unnecessary snub of one of the most high-profile documents produced by State.

A State official told POLITICO in February that Tillerson has asked others at the department for guidance on how to deal with the media, an indication he was concerned about his image. Department spokesmen ignored repeated initial requests for comment on the February account. When asked again about the matter on Saturday, a spokesman said, “The secretary has not asked for any recommendations,” but did not elaborate or clarify further.

Critics of Tillerson's quiet approach argue that being America’s chief diplomat requires literally speaking up now and then.

“He needs to communicate his vision, which has been sorely lacking both within the building and publicly,” said Dan Feldman, who served as the State Department’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan during the presidency of Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama. “And he needs to be open to the voices of experience, rather than surrounding himself primarily with political advisers.”