The New York Times is again making hay of the fact that President Trump has not nominated any assistant secretaries of state, and Trump has been giving mixed signals on whether he thinks they are even necessary. It turns out there are six undersecretaries of state and 22 assistant secretaries of state who report to them.  If you factor in those with equivalent ranks, there are actually more like 33 assistant secretaries of state, each making an average of $155,000 a year, plus benefits! Seven of the assistant secretaries cover different regions of the world, which makes some sense.  You can't have all ambassadors reporting directly to the secretary of state. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Assistant...(Read Full Post)