Pemerintahan Presiden Donald Trump memicu krisis kepegawaian global yang belum pernah terjadi sebelumnya setelah membiarkan lebih dari 100 posisi duta besar Amerika Serikat di berbagai belahan dunia, termasuk kawasan Timur Tengah, Rusia, dan Ukraina, tetap kosong hingga pertengahan Mei 2026.
The Wall Street Journal melaporkan bahwa saat ini terdapat 115 pos duta besar yang kosong dari total 195 jabatan di seluruh dunia. Krisis ini terjadi di tengah memanasnya konflik global, khususnya perang dengan Iran serta konflik Rusia-Ukraina yang telah berlangsung lebih dari empat tahun.
Kondisi ini diperparah oleh langkah Kementerian Luar Negeri AS yang merampungkan pemecatan hampir 250 perwira dinas luar negeri melalui surat elektronik. Kebijakan pengurangan tenaga kerja (RIF) yang dimulai sejak Juli lalu tersebut juga berdampak pada pemberhentian lebih dari 1.000 pegawai sipil dan penghapusan seluruh staf di Biro Sumber Daya Energi.
Mantan pejabat dan pakar luar negeri memperingatkan bahwa kekosongan jabatan ini dapat mengikis pengaruh diplomatik Washington. Di kawasan Afrika, sebanyak 37 dari 51 kedutaan besar beroperasi tanpa duta besar resmi, sementara posisi diplomat tertinggi di Arab Saudi, Uni Emirat Arab, Qatar, Kuwait, dan Irak juga masih belum terisi.
Ketiadaan duta besar yang dikonfirmasi oleh Senat membuat tanggung jawab diplomatik tertinggi dipegang oleh seorang kuasa usaha (charge d’affaires). Laporan dari American Foreign Service Association pada bulan Desember menunjukkan bahwa 86 persen diplomat merasa perubahan ini menghambat prioritas diplomatik AS, dan 98 persen melaporkan moral kerja yang buruk.
Guna mengisi kekosongan negosiasi sensitif, Presiden Trump lebih banyak mengandalkan rekan bisnis dan anggota keluarganya, seperti utusan khusus Steve Witkoff dan Jared Kushner. Di sisi lain, menteri luar negeri Marco Rubio sempat menarik kembali hampir 30 duta besar karier senior pada bulan Desember lalu sebagai bagian dari proses standar administrasi baru.
Kementerian Luar Negeri AS melalui juru bicara Tommy Pigott membantah tuduhan adanya pelemahan institusi dan menegaskan bahwa reorganisasi ini bertujuan menghapus tumpang tindih birokrasi agar pergerakan diplomasi di lapangan bisa berjalan lebih cepat.
Berikut adalah daftar kutipan langsung dari para pejabat, mantan duta besar, dan pakar terkait krisis kepegawaian di Departemen Luar Negeri AS:
"Your reduction in force separation will be effective today," tulis perwakilan Departemen Luar Negeri AS dalam potongan surat elektronik pemecatan perwira dinas luar negeri.
"Thank you again for your service to the Department." lanjut isi pesan pemecatan tersebut.
"It was just unprecedented numbers of people choosing to leave," kata David Kostelancik, perwira dinas luar negeri yang memilih pensiun setelah 36 tahun mengabdi.
"I think historians will look back on this period as one of the great unforced errors that the United States imposes on itself," tutur John Bass, mantan duta besar karier AS kepada CNN.
"false," tegas Tommy Pigott, juru bicara Departemen Luar Negeri AS, menanggapi klaim pelemahan institusi.
"baseless." tambah Tommy Pigott mengenai dampak hilangnya ratusan diplomat senior terhadap prioritas negara.
"The RIF’s are not having any negative impact on our ability to respond to operations, our ability to plan, and our ability to execute in service to Americans." jelas Tommy Pigott mengenai dampak kebijakan pengurangan tenaga kerja.
"In fact, we have been able to respond quicker and more effectively, which was the entire point of the reorg - to empower personnel in the field while allowing us to move at the ‘speed of relevancy,’" klaim Tommy Pigott mengenai efisiensi hasil reorganisasi.
"using all the policy tools we could to try to help deal with Iran and weaken the regime." ungkap Erik Holmgren, mantan Direktur Kantor Diplomasi Energi untuk Timur Tengah dan Asia mengenai tugas kedinasannya sebelum kantornya dihapus.
"energy policy teams are performing better than ever," balas Tommy Pigott menanggapi keluhan dihapusnya tim kebijakan energi.
"coordinating the release of strategic reserves with allies and partners in response to Iran’s attacks." sambung Tommy Pigott menjelaskan kerja aktif Biro Urusan Ekonomi, Energi, dan Bisnis saat ini.
"a standard process in any administration." sebut seorang pejabat senior Departemen Luar Negeri AS mengenai penarikan kembali 30 duta besar karier oleh Marco Rubio.
"An ambassador is a personal representative of the president, and it is the president’s right to ensure that he has individuals in these countries who advance the America First agenda," tambah pejabat senior tersebut.
"It’s a foolish and damaging failure by the Trump administration, and there’s no excuse for it," kritik Elliott Abrams, mantan utusan Iran pada periode pertama Trump yang kini menjabat di Council on Foreign Relations.
"There are top career diplomats, such as the ones the administration has sent to Jordan, Bahrain and Oman, who could be sent, and surely there are potential political appointees who’d love to be in Riyadh or Abu Dhabi." saran Elliott Abrams untuk mengisi kekosongan pos penting.
"There’s simply no excuse for this, and no other country leaves such important posts vacant," cetus Elliott Abrams mengenai kekosongan duta besar di negara monarki Timur Tengah.
"it would be better if they were filled with people." papar Aaron David Miller, peneliti senior di Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"It’s a lack of priority in diplomacy, and in diplomats," nilai Aaron David Miller mengenai pola kepemimpinan administrasi saat ini.
"It reflects a situation where the analytical assessments of how these countries would behave in response to a crisis like the war, what I call the ‘ground truth,’ is not getting to the president because there’s no one out there doing it." urai Aaron David Miller tentang hilangnya laporan situasi riil dari lapangan.
"I think this reflects the fact that this administration does not rely on the advice and counsel of probably most of its ambassadors," ulas Aaron David Miller.
"So does this surprise me? No, because part of the issue is that the White House and the president’s political team, including Jared Kushner and [White House Special Envoy] Steve Witkoff, seem to have more say and more influence than a Department of State led by Marco Rubio." jabar Aaron David Miller mengenai dominasi lingkaran dalam Trump.
"Senior Trump administration figures may believe they can manage these relationships just fine over the phone from Washington because of their close ties with Arab officials. But there are gaps and bandwidth limits that they cannot always overcome," ingat Dan Shapiro, mantan duta besar AS untuk Israel era Obama.
"Senate-confirmed ambassadors are the only senior U.S. officials who spend all day, every day in dialogue with foreign leaders. So they simply have greater access to key players in their host governments, knowledge of how they reach decisions, and ability to ensure they hear the views of the United States than do more junior diplomats," tukas Dan Shapiro membandingkan peran duta besar resmi dengan diplomat junior.
"downsizing" kata Edmund Fitton-Brown, peneliti senior Foundation for Defense of Democracies mengenai problem pemotongan anggaran di Departemen Luar Negeri.
"budget cuts and lost over 80 staff since President Trump returned to office." sebut Edmund Fitton-Brown merinci kerugian personel di Biro Urusan Timur Dekat.
"Many of those departing were senior, experienced diplomats who would have been candidates for Chief of Mission posts that were not offered to political appointees," terang Edmund Fitton-Brown mengenai dampak hilangnya diplomat senior.
"play an important role," aku Jason Greenblatt, mantan utusan Timur Tengah Gedung Putih era Trump mengenai fungsi duta besar.
"I do not believe the administration is at any disadvantage … because of these vacancies." sanggah Jason Greenblatt.
"The leadership and senior diplomats in those countries have strong and trusted relationships with President Trump and with the group doing much of the day-to-day work, including Steve Witkoff, Secretary Rubio, Vice President Vance and Jared Kushner," jamin Jason Greenblatt mengenai efektivitas hubungan langsung tanpa duta besar.
"Just as important, that group has President Trump’s deep trust and direct access to him. In this region, those trusted relationships, direct lines of communication and confidence from the president are more valuable than having an ambassador in place." tutup Jason Greenblatt.
"one of the" ucap Alexander Gray, mantan kepala staf Dewan Keamanan Nasional era Trump saat menjelaskan pandangannya mengenai pengisian posisi jabatan kedutaan sebelum rekaman informasi terputus.
