Senior administration of U.S. State Department resigns after Trump takes office

The entire senior level of management officials at the U.S. State Department has resigned, part of an ongoing mass exodus of senior foreign service officers who don't want to work under the Donald Trump administration.

State Department's long-serving undersecretary for management, Patrick Kennedy and three of his top officials resigned on Wednesday, reports the Washington Post.

Assistant Secretary of State for Administration Joyce Anne Barr, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Michele Bond and Ambassador Gentry O. Smith, director of the Office of Foreign Missions, followed him out the door.

According to officials, Kennedy will retire from the foreign service at the end of the month. The other officials could be given assignments elsewhere in the foreign service.

In addition, Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Gregory Starr retired on January. 20 and the director of the Bureau of Overseas Building Operations, Lydia Muniz, departed the same day.

"It's the single biggest simultaneous departure of institutional memory that anyone can remember, and that's incredibly difficult to replicate," said David Wade, who served as State Department chief of staff under former secretary of state John Kerry.

Several senior foreign service officers in the State Department's regional bureaus have also left their posts or resigned since the election.

According to an official, all the officials had previously submitted their letters of resignation, as was required for all positions that are appointed by the president and that require confirmation by the Senate, known as PAS positions.

"No officer accepts a PAS position with the expectation that it is unlimited. And all officers understand that the President may choose to replace them at any time," the official said.