Prometheus 6

Rice's Management at Issue
Critics Cite Blackwater, Baghdad Embassy and Passports
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 10, 2007; A01

Shortly after Condoleezza Rice took charge of the 57,000-person State Department in 2005, she said she relished the challenge of "line responsibility" in leading a large organization. "I really enjoy that," she said in an interview. "Some of my favorite times here have been my budget and high-level management reviews."

Nearly three years later, Rice is under fire from inside and outside the State Department for a range of crises that are largely managerial in nature -- the failure to monitor private security guards in Iraq, the delays in opening the huge U.S. Embassy under construction in Baghdad and the resistance of some Foreign Service officers to being forced to serve there. Over the summer, the department also fell woefully short in processing passport applications, resulting in ruined vacation plans for many Americans.

Within the department, Rice is viewed by many rank-and-file employees as an aloof manager who relies on a tight circle of aides, leaving her out of touch with the rest of the staff, in contrast to her predecessor, Colin L. Powell, a retired Army general who won praise from workers for treating them as though they were his "troops." At her last town hall meeting with employees 2 1/2 years ago, Rice told staffers: "I consider myself the chief management officer of this department." But a poll by the American Foreign Service Association indicated that an overwhelming majority did not feel that Rice was their advocate.

The latest controversy about forced assignments to Iraq has only heightened internal resentment of Rice's management style. "I personally do not like the ultimatum-giving," said one Foreign Service officer. "It is not what State is about."

Senior State Department officials dispute such charges, contending that Rice has moved quickly to deal with emerging problems at State despite her hectic overseas schedule. "Given what is on the secretary's plate, the myriad issues, the travel, the contact with foreign leaders and meetings at the White House, I never cease to be amazed at how up to speed she is on key management issues," said Deputy Secretary John D. Negroponte, who noted that he is the department's chief operating officer.

At a contentious hearing before the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee last month, Democrats aggressively questioned Rice over what one lawmaker labeled "seriously deficient" management. Asked to explain her oversight of State's private security contractors, Rice offered an answer that, to some lawmakers, seemed to deflect responsibility: "I certainly regret that we did not have the kind of oversight that I would have insisted upon."

Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) said he was taken aback by Rice's responses. "She acted as if she had nothing to do with it," he said. "There are too many issues we know about, in which people were not given the oversight they needed, in what seems to be a pattern of indifference to management."

Rice's management has come under fire before. As national security adviser during President Bush's first term, she was criticized by many insiders for permitting a dysfunctional policymaking process while fierce battles raged among top Cabinet members.