Friday at Harvard University, while receiving the Radcliffe Medal, former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton urged government employees under the Trump administration to stay in the State Department “as long as they can.”

She declared that it “shall pass,” and they will be needed to “pick up the pieces.”

Discussing the Trump administration, Clinton said, “There is a real concern that borders on discouragement from entering into the civil service, or in the case of the State Department, the foreign service. So that has to be rebuilt. I’m hoping that the new Secretary of State, who told me and others that he intends to really try to rebuild the State Department—try to bring in, and maybe even bring back, some of the expertise and experience that has been lost—will follow through on that and will be permitted to follow through on that.”

Discussing why people should stay in the State Department, Clinton said, “The State Department has a deep reservoir of people with experience who will say, ‘well if you say that, that sounds like what was said to his father and he’s going to immediately have a negative reaction.’ Now, who would know that other than people who have been immersed in the language and the culture of another country? So I’m hoping that people who are currently in the government who are not political appointees will stay as long as they can, fighting for facts and evidence and our values. And I hope that people if they are so motivated will still go into our government.”

She continued, “Because this too shall pass and we are going to need a vigorous, well prepared, well postponed federal government to try to pick up the pieces.”

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