Palmieri managed the successful 2018 Summit of the Americas in Peru, U.S. engagement with the Lima Group unifying 15 Western Hemisphere democracies in a multilateral diplomatic response to the crisis in Venezuela, the reorientation of U.S. foreign assistance in support of the Colombia peace process, the formulation and adoption of a new comprehensive U.S. political and economic Caribbean 2020 strategy, the launch of the renegotiation of the 50-year old Columbia River Treaty with Canada, and the multi-agency response to the ongoing migration challenges emanating from Central America.

He also was responsible for the daily management of the bureau’s 53 overseas U.S. diplomatic missions, 12,000 employees, and implementation of the hemisphere’s $1.58 billion foreign assistance and $290 million operating budgets.

He recently served as the civilian deputy and foreign policy advisor to Admiral Craig S. Faller at United States Southern Command, succeeding former ambassador Jean Elizabeth Manes in July 2021.

He also served as director of the Near East and South and Central Asia Office in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL).

[3] In February 2019 it was reported that the Trump administration would discontinue its efforts to appoint Palmieri as ambassador to Honduras, in the face of opposition from Senator Marco Rubio, a proponent of a more hard-line approach to U.S. policy in Latin America.