WASHINGTON (AP) — Rex Tillerson has all but vanished from the State Department’s website as his unceremonious firing by tweet took effect over the weekend.
The “Secretary of State Tillerson” link at the top of the department’s homepage (www.state.gov ) disappeared overnight Saturday and was replaced with a generic “Secretary of State” tab.
When clicked, it leads to a page that informs visitors in a brief statement that Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan “became acting Secretary of State on April 1, 2018.” It shows a photo of Sullivan signing his appointment papers as deputy in June 2017 but offers no explanation for the change in leadership.
In addition to that change, links that had connected to Tillerson’s speeches, travels and other events now display those of Sullivan. The link to Tillerson’s biography as the 69th secretary of state briefly returned a “We’re sorry, that page can’t be found” message. After being notified of the message, the State Department restored the link and an archive page for Tillerson’s tenure was enabled.
President Donald Trump fired Tillerson in a Twitter post on March 13, but his departure did not become official until March 31.
Sullivan will continue as acting secretary of state until Tillerson’s designated successor, CIA director Mike Pompeo, is confirmed by the Senate, possibly later this month.
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