#us embassies

Alix Breeden at Daily Kos:

The State Department is considering closing 27 consulates and embassies across the world as part of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s budget cuts.  According to an internal memo obtained by CNN, the department is also eyeing a move to pull resources from U.S. diplomatic missions in Somalia and Iraq, despite having ongoing counterterrorism efforts in both of those countries. A State Department spokesperson told Daily Kos that “operations continue as normal,” though they were not able to confirm nor deny the possibility of future closures. “The State Department continues to assess our global programs and posture to ensure we are best positioned to address modern challenges on behalf of the American people,” they told Daily Kos. In other words, nothing is off the table.  Consulates are typically low-staffed agencies that provide help to Americans abroad with things like passports and visas. Even though Secretary of State Marco Rubio hasn’t publicly signed off on any closures yet, he has an interesting history with some of the countries who made the list. 

Excerpt from this New York Times story:

What’s the air quality in New Delhi, Jakarta or Buenos Aires? Until Tuesday, the United States Embassy in those cities could have told you.

But the Trump administration has effectively shut down a global air quality monitoring program, ending more than a decade of public data-collection and reporting from 80 embassies and consulates worldwide.

The information has supported research, helped thousands of foreign service officers working abroad to decide if it was safe to let their children play outdoors, and has directly led to air quality improvements in countries like China.

The State Department said in an email that the program was being suspended “due to budget constraints.”

Health officials and environmental experts said ending air quality monitoring would hurt Americans overseas, particularly those who work for the U. S. government.

“Embassies are situated sometimes in very difficult air quality circumstances,” said Gina McCarthy, who led the Environmental Protection Agency in the Obama administration.

She, along with John Kerry, who was secretary of state at the time, expanded globally what had been a limited but transformational air monitoring effort in China.

Alex Bollinger at LGBTQ Nation:

Secretary of State Mark Rubio issued a “One Flag Policy” on Tuesday this week, which will allow three flags to be flown at U.S. outposts: the U.S. flag, the POW/MIA flag, and the Hostages and Wrongful Detainees flag, the rightwing Free Beacon reports. “Starting immediately, only the United States of America flag is authorized to be flown or displayed at U.S. facilities, both domestic and abroad, and featured in U.S. government content,” the order states, according to the Free Beacon. “The flag of the United States of America united all Americans under the universal principles of justice, liberty, and democracy. These values, which are the bedrock of our great country, are shared by all American citizens, past and present.” [...] Rainbow flags flying at embassies has been a point of contention for years between Republican and Democratic administrations, with Democrats arguing that the U.S. has a duty to promote human rights abroad while Republicans oppose considering LGBTQ+ people’s rights human rights.

Molly Sprayregen at LGBTQ Nation:

In a searing statement, the White House slammed an anti-LGBTQ+ provision included in the new federal spending bill signed by President Joe Biden on Saturday. In a victory for LGBTQ+ people, the bill contains almost none of the over 50 anti-LGBTQ+ “policy riders” that far-right Republicans wanted. The single anti-LGBTQ+ provision remaining in the bill prevents Pride flags from being flown over U.S. embassies in foreign countries.

“President Biden believes it was inappropriate to abuse the process that was essential to keep the government open by including this policy targeting LGBTQI+ Americans,” said the White House statement. “While it will have no impact on the ability of members of the LGBTQI+ community to serve openly in our embassies or to celebrate Pride, the Administration fought against the inclusion of this policy and we will continue to work with members of Congress to find an opportunity to repeal it.” [...] “The flag provision would continue to allow pride flags to be present in almost all cases at embassies, except flown *over* the exterior of the building,” wrote the Human Rights Campaign’s National Press Secretary, Brandon Wolf. “It doesn’t limit a flag on, in front of, inside, at workspaces, etc. Trying to sell that as your big win is pathetic.”

[...] Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus had tried to use budget negotiations to end government funding of any entity that “promotes transgenderism” or provides gender-affirming care; any federal agencies pursuing policies to expand diversity, equality, and inclusivity (DEI); any legal consequences for federal contractors who discriminate against LGBTQ+ people but claim their religion made them do it; and any implementation of the Department of Education’s rules requiring schools to accommodate trans students.

President Biden was furious that the House GOP snuck in a provision allowing for the ban on LGBTQ+ Pride Flags from being flown over the exterior of US Embassies to be placed in the bill to stop a government shutdown.

See Also:

Ryan Adamczeski at The Advocate:

The Biden administration has agreed to ban LGBTQ+ Pride flags from flying at U.S. embassies in order to pass a spending bill that will keep the federal government open through September 30. Flag bans have been proposed and enacted by conservatives across the country as a way to censor specifically the rainbow Pride flag. The federal measure was stuck into the government spending agreement by Republicans during negotiations and enthusiastically promoted by anti-LGBTQ+ House Speaker Mike Johnson. The provision bans all flags other than the U.S. flag outside embassies, but it does not prevent individual workers from displaying them. The measure aimed to crack down on all "political" flags, including the Black Lives Matter or Black American Heritage Flags. There are only exceptions for flags honoring prisoners of war and wrongful detainees.

The rainbow flag has been flown at embassies during Pride month in June, and on days such as the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on May 17. It was first displayed by the Obama administration before the Trump administration implemented a ban on the flag, which was later reversed by the Biden administration. President Joe Biden has seemingly agreed to the ban again in his endorsement of government funding bill House Resolution 2882. His office said in a statement Thursday that it "strongly urges swift passage" of the "critical" bill but did not acknowledge the provision that would restrict flags.

The Biden Administration conceding to a ban on LGBTQ+ Pride Flags at US Embassies is a bad look; however, it was the only major concession to anti-LGBTQ+ extremists in the latest government spending bill.