Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is proceeding with plans to host holiday diplomatic parties with hundreds of invitees at the U.S. State Department despite coronavirus lockdown protocols and the department’s advice to its own employees, current and former officials told Foreign Policy.
The State Department’s plans to push ahead with annual holiday parties, even as the Trump administration’s own health experts urge people to avoid large gatherings as coronavirus cases surge across the United States, will heighten the risk of exposure and infection for State government employees and contractors required to staff the events, as well as the attendees themselves.
