Just six months before the Trump administration launched military strikes on Iran, the State Department axed its entire oil and gas crisis team, leaving the nation scrambling as global energy markets teeter on the brink of chaos, according to a new report.
The war in Iran is now in its third week, and the critical Strait of Hormuz, which usually channels about a fifth of the world's oil supply, sits locked down tight. The Trump administration is flying blind, without the experts who once managed such catastrophes, former State Department employees told Notus.
In July, as part of Trump's aggressive cost-cutting crusade, the administration laid off staffers who specialized in "gaming out possible scenarios if the Strait of Hormuz was closed," the report said. Staffers with close professional ties at oil and gas companies in the Middle East were also sent packing, along with experts tasked with maintaining diplomatic contacts at foreign energy bureaus.
The irony was not lost on Geoffrey Pyatt, who served as assistant secretary of state for energy resources during the Biden administration.
“I’m sure Secretary Rubio wishes he had that expertise available today,” said Pyatt. “Most of that institutional knowledge was lost with the elimination of the bureau and RIFs last fall.”
When 1,300 State Department positions got the boot, nearly everyone from the Bureau of Energy Resources was shown the door.
Nine former federal energy experts spilled the beans anonymously, revealing that oil and gas executives are desperately hunting for anyone at the State Department who can help navigate the crisis.
They believe the Trump administration’s "lack of preparation for a global oil crisis is becoming increasingly clear," the report said.
“Before any of this should have happened, there should have been discussion about what are the implications of this, and what happens when the Strait of Hormuz turns off,” said one former Bureau of Energy Resources staffer.
Another former federal worker cracked a bitter joke.
“They would say, ‘Who do we call at State about this?’ And I’d say, ‘Sounds like you need to hire some MAGA lobbyists to figure that out, because that’s not my problem. They fired those people."