The term Cookie Pusher has been applied as a reference to diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

s in general and members of the United States Foreign Service

United States Foreign Service

The United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...

 specifically.

Origin

The Listserv of the American Dialect Society

American Dialect Society

The American Dialect Society, founded in 1889, is a learned society "dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it." The Society publishes the academic journal, American Speech...

 documents "cookie pusher" as being coined by US diplomat Hugh S. Gibson in 1924.

Usage mid-century

The term was used a number of times throughout the 20th century, sometimes in derogatory form but at other times in the spirit of a pseudonym for American Foreign Service Officer

Foreign Service Officer

A Foreign Service Officer is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. As diplomats, Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic...

s. A series of excellent articles in the Christian Science Monitor that ran in February, 1950 were subtitled "Alias Cookie Pushers". The articles were very laudatory towards the US Foreign Service, talking about the conditions encountered at the time vice stereotypes of diplomats being "striped pants Cookie Pushers from Harvard".

Modern usage

Ivor Evans in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable uses the term denoting a junior diplomat who functions as a roving waiter at an official reception, presumably "pushing" appetizers on people who don't really want them.

Usage in US Department of State speeches

• Former Secretary of State
  Secretary of State
  Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
  
   James F. Byrnes
  James F. Byrnes
  James Francis Byrnes was an American statesman from the state of South Carolina. During his career, Byrnes served as a member of the House of Representatives , as a Senator , as Justice of the Supreme Court , as Secretary of State , and as the 104th Governor of South Carolina...
  
   in his remarks to the House Appropriations Committee delivered on April 9, 1946, during hearings on the State Department's 1947 supply bill.

• Former Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns
  R. Nicholas Burns
  R. Nicholas Burns is a retired American diplomat. He is currently Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a member of the Board of Directors of the school's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs...
  
  :

• State Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Wendy Chamberlin
  Wendy Chamberlin
  Wendy Chamberlin is a veteran diplomat who has served in the United States Department of State and USAID, worked for the UN High Commissioner on Refugees , and now serves as President of the Middle East Institute.- US Department of State :...
  
  :

• Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage
  Richard Armitage (politician)
  Richard Lee Armitage, GCMG AC CNZM was the 13th United States Deputy Secretary of State, the second-in-command at the State Department, serving from 2001 to 2005.-Early life and military career:...
  
  :

• Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell
  Colin Powell
  Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
  
   to the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign:

• The American Foreign Service Association
  American Foreign Service Association
  The American Foreign Service Association is the professional association certified by the United States Department of State, the Commercial Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, and U.S. Agency for International Development to represent members of the United States Foreign Service. AFSA's history...
  
  during possible forced assignment of officers to Iraq in 2007 (which was not finally necessary due to enough volunteers):