Secretary Mike Pompeo is hosting another one of his famous gatherings. This time it isn't an intimate dinner party with huge GOP donors and CEOs at taxpayer expense, it is a 900-person holiday party extravaganza.
According to the Washington Post, Pompeo sent out a department-wide notice to staff last week telling them that “any non-mission critical events” be changed to “virtual events as opposed to in-person gatherings.” But event planners were told that the instruction didn't apply to the department's holiday functions they were working on, “Diplomacy at Home for the Holidays” on Dec. 15.
The State Department holiday party hosted by Pompeo and his wife Susan will be a large indoor gathering on the 8th floor of the State Department offices. It will include food and drinks and hundreds of guests.
The Post explained that it wasn't the only gathering as Pompeo intends to join in the next three weeks.
The event comes as the United States continues to hit an all-time high of coronavirus cases. Virginia and Maryland, in particular, have seen dramatic increases over the past week. Since so many people traveled for Thanksgiving, public health officials fear that the U.S. is about to hit even higher numbers.