State Department Scraps Sanctions Office

by **Turtleneck** 2017-10-28, 13:25

The Trump administration was three weeks late on a Russia sanctions deadline. But it’s killed the office that coordinates them.

While the sanctions office was dissolved, the administration missed a key Oct. 1 deadline to implement new penalties against Russia adopted by Congress in August. The move reinforced concerns among both Democratic and Republican lawmakers that the Trump White House is mismanaging the State Department and undercutting the role of U.S. diplomacy.

The “elimination of the sanctions coordinator appears to be part of the larger reorganization debacle underway at the State Department,” said Sean Bartlett, spokesman for Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

A State Department spokesperson told FP they notified Congress last month the office would be shutting down and moving to the policy planning office. “No movement of funds or personnel has taken place,” the spokesperson added.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/26/state-department-scraps-sanctions-office/