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Even in a liberal democracy, foreign ministries can act as a brake on the executive. By their organisation and staff, these administrations can hinder the foreign policy of the executive, whose authority emanates from the people. This is despite the fact that these administrations are supposed to serve and facilitate the foreign policy of the executive in the first place. This article illustrates this phenomenon through two examples. In the first, officials at the Quai d’Orsay in the 1920s sought to limit Minister Aristide Briand’s strategy for building a united Europe. In the second, the British executive ensures the execution of its foreign policy against potential obstacles put up by the Foreign Office by creating, from 2016 onwards, a parallel ministry in charge of getting the UK out of the European Union.