The Ambassador to Panama, John Feeley, announced in a statement that he would leave his office by March 9th because he no longer tolerates working alongside President Donald Trump.
“John Feeley has informed the White House, the Department of State and the Government of Panama of his decision to retire for personal reasons, as of March 9 of this year,” a State Department spokesperson told CNN.
According to his resignation letter, Feeley had several differences with the Trump administration. But he made his decision before the ‘shi*hole’ comments that Trump allegedly said on Thursday, January 11th.
Via Twitter, Trump denied the ‘shi*hole’ comments but admitted that he used “though” language during the meeting at the Oval Office. However, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who was present at the meeting, said Trump used the term repeatedly.
“As a junior Foreign Service officer, I signed an oath to serve faithfully the President and his administration in an apolitical fashion, even when I might not agree with certain policies. My instructors made clear that if I believed I could not do that, I would be honor bound to resign. That time has come,” Feeley wrote.
According to a Twitter post by Univision, Feeley has been in public service for 35 years, in the US Marine Corps and State Department. Feeley’s letter also states that the embassy will be in good hands and that Panama and the United States have a good relationship.
Panama will become one of the many countries that do not have an appointed Senate U.S. Ambassador in place. Senior officials take place in situations like this, but only for limited time.
Federal laws let transitory officeholders take place for 300 days. However, 320 days have passed since Trump took over administration and officeholders are about to reach the limit. Presidential nominations for those positions are critical right now.
This article was inspired by The Guardian // US ambassador to Panama quits and says he cannot serve under Trump