Secretary of State Marco Rubio kicked off a “sweeping” reversal of left-wing social programs and policies at the State Department, upon taking office today. He told employees of the federal agency that he will “faithfully” implement President Trump’s directive to strip DEI from the federal government and reinstate a focus on “performance and merit” alone, in a diplomatic cable obtained by National Review.
The cable, which was issued this afternoon, laid out Rubio’s vision for reorienting the State Department’s work exclusively around promoting America’s national interest and announced the new secretary of state’s plans to scrap DEI as a precept for promotion. RealClearPolitics was first to report on the cable.
The Biden-era State Department had stipulated that employees “promote” diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility as a factor in personnel decisions, National Review exclusively reported in 2022.
Under the Biden administration, State pursued a litany of internal workforce initiatives and diplomatic actions centered on the promotion of “equity,” as distinct from equality. Those steps followed the implementation of executive orders early into Joe Biden’s presidency instilling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles into every federal agency. Among the many executive orders President Trump signed last night were orders that reversed Biden’s DEI push (referred to in the parlance of the federal government as diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, or DEIA).
“To fulfill our mission, the State Department must continue to attract and retain the most capable people in federal service,” Rubio wrote today. “That means ending any practice, system, guideline, standard, or any other measure that prioritizes any criteria for selecting, training, evaluating, posting, or promoting our people on any basis other than performance and merit.”
He continued, citing Trump’s executive order “eliminating ‘DEIA’ requirements, programs, and offices throughout the government. The Biden administration had also created specific offices dedicated to DEI work, including those of the special representative for racial equity and justice and the chief diversity and inclusion officer. Trump’s order yesterday eliminated those posts.
“He is the chief executive of our republic elected by the voters of the American people and this order will be faithfully executed and complied with in both letter and spirit,” Rubio wrote. “There is tremendous talent and expertise in this Department — I have seen it firsthand in missions across the globe — and upholding strict meritocracy is essential to securing our nation’s future.”
He also said State’s promotion of “political and cultural causes that are divisive at home and deeply unpopular abroad” must end. As a senator, Rubio criticized State Department grants that promoted left-wing social ideologies.
Rubio also told department staffers in the message that Foggy Bottom would “no longer undertake any activities that facilitate or encourage” mass migration to the United States. He said the State Department would no longer work to suppress Americans’ speech in its efforts to combat mis- and disinformation and that he would reverse the orientation of U.S. foreign policy “around climate policies that weakened America.”
Above all, Rubio pledged to streamline State’s work to place it at the center of American foreign policy.
In the cable, Rubio told the department: “The coming months and years will be challenging, sometimes difficult, always rewarding, and — if we do our jobs right and well — potentially the most fruitful for our department and nation since the immediate aftermath of the Second World War.”
The Senate unanimously confirmed Rubio to the job of America’s top diplomat last night, and the Floridian was sworn in by Vice President JD Vance this morning. He received resounding applause from department employees gathered in the lobby of State’s main building after he gave a speech marking his arrival today.