Rubio denies that Trump will politicize the Foreign Service and slash embassies

The Trump administration is distancing itself from a document that has circulated within the State Department that would eliminate the career diplomatic corps in its current, non-partisan form and slash embassies around the world. 

The draft executive order, obtained by Government Executive, would have ended the use of the Foreign Service Officer Test and created new guidelines for evaluating potential hires, which would have included “demonstrated charisma,” “verbal authenticity” and “diplomatic appearance.” It also would have included “alignment with the president’s foreign policy vision.” Any hiring would have required sign off from the White House “to ensure the candidate’s alignment with administration priorities.” 

While career Foreign Service officers are expected to carry out the policies of any administration, they are part of a career cadre of experts and do not serve at the pleasure of the president as do political appointees. They also serve as generalists who accept assignments around the world, but the draft order we have reoriented that configuration to instead make the employees regional specialists who only serve at posts in their designated areas. 

After the document began circulating around State over the weekend and it made its way to reporters, including Government Executive, The New York Times reported on it and department Secretary Marco Rubio subsequently called it “fake news” and said the newspaper fell victim to a “hoax.” 

The reporting was “entirely based on a fake document,” said a State spokesperson, who did not address any of the specific matters included in the draft order. 

Multiple sources suggested the document stemmed from Pete Marocco, a former politically appointed State official who Rubio fired last week. Marocco previously oversaw the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development. 

Under the draft, all foreign and civil service personnel would have the opportunity to accept a buyout by Sept. 30, 2025. Multiple State employees told Government Executive they expect a reorganization plan this week, as soon as April 22. That expectation was communicated separately and prior to the leak of the draft executive order. 

As part of that plan, according to multiple officials briefed on the matter, employees are expected to receive buyout and early retirement offers. The number of staff who can accept that offer is expected to be capped at around 2,700. 

The draft executive order, which State has called fake, would have eliminated a slew of offices across the department. That would include the closure of State’s Africa bureau, which would have been replaced by a Special Envoy Office for African Affairs that would report directly to the White House. Rubio would have determined which sub-Saharan embassies in Africa were essential and closed the rest. 

The order would have eliminated offices related to climate, oceans and scientific affairs, foreign assistance, public diplomacy and public affairs, security coordination, education and cultural affairs, democracy and human rights, refugees and migration and global criminal justice. Additional offices would have been consolidated with others. The document did not spell out exactly what would happen with employees working in closed offices, though layoffs likely would have been required. 

It would have created the Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs to subsume the mission-critical duties of the USAID, which the Trump administration has effectively shuttered. 

The document would have required all State employees to “professionally execute the foreign policy priorities of the president under the department’s new Strategic Cohesion Doctrine.” That doctrine stressed “message discipline, operational alignment, and unified mission execution.” 

Still, the draft order claimed it would not “infringe upon any employee’s private political beliefs” or “require ideological conformity beyond the execution of assigned responsibilities.” State personnel could hold dissenting views, the document stated, so long as employees aligned with department expectations “on and off the clock.” 

The American Foreign Service Association, which represents FSOs at State, said the leak has caused damage even if the department changes course. 

“Reorganization of the State Department by leaks and confusion isn’t a strategy—it’s a recipe for failure,” the group said. “Whether this memo proves true or not, the effect is the same: a demoralized workforce and weakened U.S. diplomacy.”

The draft order created an aggressive Oct. 1 deadline to implement the changes called for in the reorganization, which several employees told Government Executive was unrealistic.

One current Foreign Service officer highlighted the closure of the Public Diplomacy office, calling it a “radical change of course” and an “incredible move” given all the messaging currently being put forward across the world by various state-owned media entities. One of the office's main functions is countering foreign disinformation abroad. President Trump has also sought to eliminate the U.S. Agency for Global Media and laid off most of its employees. 

Employees also noted a seeming lack of understanding of departmental operations. The document would merge the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations with the Office of Foreign Missions, for example, the latter of which oversees foreign missions operating within the United States and “has nothing to do with managing our buildings overseas,” as one employee said. 

Another current FSO suggested the plan would have run counter to the administration’s stated goals to oppose China and Iran, increase exports and protect Americans. 

“This reorganization and downsizing will make it harder to sell U.S. stuff and protect Americans overseas,” the employee said. 

Frank Konkel and David DiMolfetta contributed to this report.