During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) asked Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Michael Rigas about prior testimonies.
00:08I cannot tell you how frustrated I am listening to the answers that you've given here that to me
00:13are utterly unacceptable. You know that there's a number of us who have served in executive
00:19positions. We have governors, county executives, as Coons has said, I ran a city during a recession,
00:24cut 25% from my workforce overall. I know what it means to do a riff right, but this has been chaos.
00:32It has been cruelty. And your answers, frankly, have just lacked decency, as if you don't care
00:39about a lot of the employees whose lives have been destroyed after years, if not decades of service.
00:45Now, I want to be very specific. Clearly, you're not standing up for people who've dedicated their
00:50lives to this country, but I'm going to stand up for them. And so let's talk about some of these
00:54people in real life and what you've done. A technical security specialist who just moved
01:00all of his belongings to Pakistan. He was fired as he was heading there to ensure our embassies
01:06in the region were safe. Hours after the movers left his home, he was fired, leaving a massive
01:13security gap of this administration's making. On Friday, you fired rapid response counselor
01:19officers who deployed to provide emergency services for Americans overseas. The rapid response
01:25officers you fired were both actively deployed, leaving one stranded in Colombia and the other
01:31in Ankara without access to their emails or phones and without plane tickets home.
01:37The cruelty continues. One of the officers was a veteran with 24 years of federal service
01:45who had helped Americans during the Afghanistan withdrawal and the Sudan evacuation that deserved
01:52better from you and the United States government for their service. At the time, at a time that
01:58there's a hot war in Ukraine and President Trump is claiming to try to foster a peace agreement
02:04between Ukraine and Russia. You fired the only Ukraine intelligence analyst and Russia analysts
02:11in the Intelligence and Research Bureau. You fired the executive director of the National Authority
02:16for Chemical Weapons Convention while we are trying to get the new government in Syria
02:22to locate and destroy remaining stockpiles of chemical weapons that threaten the security of that region
02:29and us. You fired human trafficking experts, including everyone with human trafficking experience
02:36in the Middle East, North Africa, and South and Central Asia, as if that is not an urgent crisis
02:42amongst humanity and for this nation. Apart from the national security implications of all of these firings,
02:48despite the cruel way that you guys executed them, the human toll is also staggering.
02:56One of the human trafficking experts you fired, showing the level of cruelty of your actions,
03:03has a wife who was just fired by USAID. She's pregnant. And now he just got fired as well.
03:11Two people trying to start their family with no income and now even their health insurance in limbo,
03:17who gave years of service to this country. You even fired all the staff at the Office of Casualty Assistance
03:24who are charged with repatriating fallen State Department personnel and their families,
03:29including those working on behalf of employees killed in the Benghazi attacks.
03:34We have a solemn and sacred duty to bring home bodies of American citizens who die
03:40while serving their countries and help their families. It's a sacred obligation.
03:47Every major corporation I know, we've talked about business sector, knows the most valuable thing they can do
03:53is get a pipeline of talent and personnel. I've talked to CEOs who've told me they spend between 25%
03:58and a third of their time recruiting talent. But despite telling us that the recruitment office would face no cuts,
04:05on Friday you fired the entire recruitment division lying to us and eliminating that pipeline of talent.
04:13To the civil service and foreign officers who are watching this right now hoping they can get some justification
04:19for the chaos you've created, for the cruelty you've put into place, for the lack of decency,
04:25I'm going to tell those folks right now that we are going to stand up for each and every one of those folks
04:30and fight for them at a time that China is doubling down on their investments in diplomatic corps,
04:38trying to fill every void that we create. You are devastating our corps, hurting Americans,
04:46undermining our sacred mission as well. And again, I don't trust you Mr. Regas.
04:52Yesterday you said no one in Council of Affairs would be fired. That's false.
04:56Over 100 Council of Affairs officers were fired. Again, you said no one with overseas assignments would be fired.
05:02That also is not true. I have examples of employees rift all over this country who've had orders in hands.
05:10And we were told no diplomatic security agents would be fired. And again, not true.
05:16We are the United States Senate. We have an obligation for oversight.
05:20And you showed over the House hearing that even your statements lack veracity.
05:26I'm telling you right now, we are in a crisis in this country if you won't come here and represent facts.
05:34And to demonstrate that cruelty, to demonstrate the level of chaos and lack of decency of this administration,
05:41all of these cuts are being done in the name of saving taxpayers money, but we're not doing that.
05:47We literally are giving tax cuts to billionaires and racking up the biggest deficits in my lifetime
05:53under this leadership that does not have fiscal responsibility.
05:57And the best demonstration of that is allowing millions of pounds or thousands of pounds of food
06:04that were supposed to save the lives of thousands of human beings paid for by taxpayers to spoil on docks.
06:13How is that in any way human decency? How is that in any way showing what we stand for as a country,
06:20that we would rather watch food spoil on the docks, taxpayer money absolutely wasted,
06:26while children around this world are dying because of your inaction and that of your agency?
06:32Sir, you have not been truthful. You are showing a lack of decency to people who have given decades of service.
06:39Veterans. You've upended families. This is not the way we operate. It is not the decency that they deserve.
06:48And I will stand up and fight you in every way to make sure that the people you have hurt get from this country what they deserve.
06:57Respect and honor. Thank you.
07:00Senator Shaheen.
07:01Can I respond to that?
07:03Yes, you may.
07:06I am deeply distressed by everything you just said. It was...
07:11I'm distressed by everything you've done, sir.
07:13Excuse me. Excuse me.
07:14I've watched you lie to this committee.
07:15You did not.
07:16I've watched you lie on the House side.
07:17You did not, sir.
07:18I'm sorry, sir.
07:19If you were here when I addressed Senator Merkley on that consular affairs statement,
07:22I told him immediately after that, the next sentence after that in my House testimony, I clarified that...
07:27What about the other lies that I've said?
07:28That...
07:29What about the other lies?
07:30Diplomatic...
07:31Do you want to go through them one by one?
07:32Diplomatic... Sir, can I... Mr. Chairman, can I respond to the question?
07:35You may respond.
07:36We did not let go any diplomatic security personnel that were engaged in law enforcement functions.
07:42We did not let go any consular affairs personnel who were engaged...
07:45Sir, that is a patent lie.
07:46That is a patent lie.
07:47Mr. Chairman, can I answer the question, please?
07:48Sir, that is a patent lie.
07:49This is outrageous.
07:50Senator Brooke, could you please let...
07:51Sir, what is outrageous is your behavior.
07:53So, I will tell you, we gave humanitarian exceptions...
07:56Senator, please let Mr. Regas respond.
07:58Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
07:59We let individuals who are...
08:03By the way, they're still on payroll.
08:05They're still getting pay and benefits.
08:07Civil servants for the next 60 days.
08:09Foreign service officers for the next 120 days.
08:12And then the other individuals who had requested compassionate exceptions
08:15because of medical or family issues were granted.
08:18And I can tell you that is in stark contrast to what I experienced
08:22when I was the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management
08:27at the end of the first Trump administration
08:30when we requested of the incoming Biden administration
08:33that appointees who were pregnant, who had babies, some in the NICU,
08:39we said, could they please, because they were legally entitled,
08:43to have family and medical leave for 12 weeks, sir.
08:45Mr. Regas' response to this is to blame Biden.
08:47For 12 weeks.
08:48I've heard this time and time again.
08:49No, you have not.
08:50You've never heard this before, sir.
08:51Because I've never been entered into the congressional record.
08:53Sir, you are trying to delay.
08:54I would like the ability to respond.
08:56And you're trying to denigrate this committee by not telling the truth.
08:59Sir, I want to enter the record, literally an impeachment of what he just said.
09:05May I enter into the record this document demonstrating that he did indeed fire people
09:10who were in charge of doing technical work for the security of our people overseas.
09:14You lied to this committee.
09:15I did not, sir.
09:16I just told you.
09:17And I'd like to enter this into the record.
09:18Okay, just a minute.
09:19Senator Booker, you are allowed to enter down the record.
09:21Thank you very much.
09:22So if we could, Mr. Regas, please respond.
09:25And then we're going to move on.
09:27I pointed out four factual in errors where you lied to this committee.
09:31I'm happy to listen to you go through each one.
09:33As I've said repeatedly in this committee, sir.
09:34Senator Booker, thank you.
09:35I just want to allow Mr. Regas to respond.
09:38And then Senator Shaheen then has a couple more questions.
09:40We'll wrap up.
09:42Senator Shaheen.
09:43I've said repeatedly during this committee, and maybe you weren't here to hear that testimony.
09:46Obviously, people were let go from their jobs.
09:49It's a reduction in force.
09:51We had 13 people who were let go.
09:53That does not mean the function that they performed was necessarily eliminated.
09:58These functions that we wanted to move forward were carried on either in a combined bureau or in another office where those redundant functions were carried out.
10:07We said diplomatic security that was conducting law enforcement, there were no reductions in that law enforcement function.
10:14Consular affairs folks who were adjudicating passports, who were doing the customer service work that we want to see continue, were not reduced or eliminated.
10:22People who were in domestic positions is where these reductions in force were done.
10:28But, sir, he's contraventing his own territory.
10:30You said that's regrettable, that there were at least 200 people that you at least showed some shred of decency.
10:37I'm saying it's regrettable.
10:38Look, no one wants...
10:39So you've made mistakes.
10:40I'm saying...
10:41So you have made mistakes.
10:42No.
10:43You made no mistakes.
10:44You're literally saying you've made no mistakes.
10:46Senator Booker, thank you.
10:48I want to...
10:49Mr. Regas, clearly this is going to go back and forth.
10:51Right.
10:52I'd like you to maybe respond maybe in 30 seconds and we'll have Senator Shaheen.
10:55I think you should respond to questions for the record, sir.
10:59He's speaking on the record.
11:00Look, no one wants to lay someone off.
11:03I don't think we take any joy in laying people off or any kind of reduction in force.
11:07But we have to do what's best for the mission.
11:09We have to do what's best for the organization.
11:11The department has grown by 20,000 people since 2008.
11:15We're literally just...
11:16We let go 1,300 people.
11:17Every single one of those is hard for those individuals, for their families.
11:22I've experienced unemployment in my life.
11:24I know what that's like.
11:25It's not pleasant for anyone.
11:26But we have to put the mission first.
11:28And we have to make sure the critical functions we want to execute are going to be done.
11:32And they're going to be done with respect to taxpayers in the United States.
11:36I find that insulting, demeaning, degrading to the people whose lives you've upended unjustifiably.
