Congressional Delegations

The House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman is furious a report was scrubbed of references to allegations employees hired prostitutes.

Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday he “welcomes” the Office of Inspector General's decision to hire outside law enforcement officials to review how the department handled a series of internal investigations into alleged employee misconduct.

The department is under fire after a leaked OIG memo raised concerns of political interference in at least eight cases, including a probe into whether the U.S. ambassador to Belgium solicited prostitutes. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki has called the allegation “preposterous,” but Kerry was careful to point out that they date back to his predecessor — Hillary Clinton.

“I can tell you as a former prosecutor I take very seriously a investigative process, and I am confident that the OIG’s process where he has invited outsiders to come and review whatever took place a year ago will be reviewed,” he said. “And I welcome that, I think the Department welcomes that, because we do want the highest standards applied.”

The Obama administration's Benghazi scourge is helping with a new congressional probe into allegations that the State Department squashed internal investigations of employees' use of prostitutes and other misconduct.

House oversight panel chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told The Hill on Wednesday that he'll work with Foreign Affairs Committee leader Ed Royce (R-Calif.) to investigate the allegations. Royce wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday demanding to know who – if anyone – may have stopped the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) from doing its job.

“Chairman Royce and I will work together on it,” Issa told The Hill in a short hallway interview. “We will assist – that's what we're doing. We end up doing some of the particulars that are unique to our committee.”

A leaked report alleges that the State Department may have interfered in at least eight Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) cases.

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs panel said Monday he was “appalled” by reports that the State Department sought to quash internal investigations into employee wrongdoing — and is launching his own probe.

Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) vowed to bring up with Secretary of State John Kerry allegations that State Department officials — including an ambassador — used prostitutes and that department higher-ups might have tried to quash the probes. He has asked his own staff to start investigating.

“I am appalled not only at the reported misconduct itself, but at the reported interference in the investigations of the misconduct,” Royce said in a statement. “The notion that any or all of the cases contained in news reports would not be investigated thoroughly by the Department is unthinkable.

“Department interference with the independence of any DSS investigations must be uncovered. I have asked my staff to begin an investigation into these allegations and intend to raise the issue with Secretary Kerry immediately.”

Lawmakers are defending the FBI amid new accusations that the law enforcement agency could have prevented the Boston Marathon bombing.

President Obama's National Security Advisor tried to derail Susan Rice's chances of getting his job by pushing for her to head the World Bank, Foreign Policy reports in a profile of Thomas Donilon.

Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has long been rumored to be in the running to replace Donilon during President Obama's second term. Donilon personally pushed her candidacy for the World Bank spot, according to Foreign Policy, “a job she didn't want that would have taken her out of the running for an appointment as secretary of state or national security advisor.”

In the end, Rice lost out to former Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) for the secretary of State position after Republican senators made clear they would oppose her for delivering the administration's flawed Benghazi, Libya, talking points five days after the terrorist attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. 

She remains a favorite to replace Donilon — a position that does not require Senate confirmation — however. Democrats in recent weeks have sought to rehabilitate her image and called on her Republican opponents to apologize following the release of administration memos confirming the talking points were crafted without her input.

They are endorsing a measure that would set up a special panel to investigate the deadly attacks in Benghazi.

Cameron Kerry will assume office as the acting secretary of Commerce at the end of May.

Freshman Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) has been promoted to vice chairman of the House Foreign Affairs panel on the Middle East and North Africa because of his experience as an Air Force reservist in Iraq.

“For six very long months of my life, I lived on a cot with my fellow airmen, studied the cultural and religious aspects of this region, and called Balad, Iraq, my home,” Collins said in a statement. “I appreciate [committee] Chairman [Ed] Royce (R-Calif.) and [subcommittee] Chairman [Ileana] Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) for giving me the opportunity to learn from my colleagues and also educate them on my experiences in the Middle East."

"This region is vital to the future advancement of American foreign policy, and I am looking forward to contributing whatever I can from my personal insight to promote a better and more secure well-being for America in our international community.”