The State Department has changed its hiring and promoting criteria for foreign service officers to eliminate any diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) considerations.
Before now, the second of five core precepts used in State Department hiring and promotion emphasized promoting DEI, according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital. That precept has now been replaced with one focused on ‘fidelity.’
A senior State Department official said it was ‘unbelievable’ fidelity was not already part of the promotion criteria.
‘This is a commonsense and needed change. U.S. Foreign Service Officers represent America overseas and should be judged on their ability to faithfully and dutifully represent and champion our country abroad.’
The department’s previous hiring guide for 2022–2025 required foreign service employees to ‘demonstrate impact in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility,’ according to the internal documents.
Entry-level applicants were expected to proactively seek to ‘improve one’s own self-awareness with respect to promoting inclusivity.’ Mid- and senior-level supervisors were told to recruit and retain diverse teams, respond immediately to non-inclusive workplace behaviors, and ‘consult with impacted staff before finalizing decisions.’
That guidance is now out.
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The department’s new document for 2025–2028 lists ‘fidelity’ as the first of five core precepts, followed by communication, leadership, management and knowledge. Under the new policy, mid- and senior-level Foreign Service Officers must demonstrate loyalty by ‘zealously executing U.S. government policy’ and ‘resolving uncertainty on the side of fidelity to one’s chain of command.’
The move comes amid a government-wide effort to eliminate DEI within federal agencies, and root out those who they believe to be working to undermine President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The State Department has also frozen the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT) – typically administered three times a year – as it moves to restructure and potentially downsize its workforce. In May, the department submitted a plan to Congress outlining a 15% reduction of its 19,000 employees and the consolidation of over 300 bureaus and agency offices.
While a court order has temporarily paused mass layoffs across federal agencies, a recent Supreme Court ruling determined that nationwide injunctions issued by federal district courts ‘likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted.’