The Unravelling of the U.S. Foreign Service

 Lawfare Daily published on 14 January 2026 an interview titled "The U.S. Foreign Service at a 'Breaking Point' with John Dinkelman."

John Dinkelman, president of the American Foreign Service Association and a 37-year veteran of the State Department, describes the dismal state of affairs in the U.S. Foreign Service today.

Comment:  I also spent 37-years in the U.S. Foreign Service, albeit in an earlier period than Dinkelman, and find it heart-breaking to learn what is happening to an organization that I love and respect.  

Career Officers Seeking Ambassadorships: Hibernate for at Least Three Years

 The National Journal published on 12 January 2026 an article titled "Trump's Ambassadors Are Largely Political Appointees" by Ledyard King.

As of January 1, 2026, 64 of the 70 nominated ambassadors--91 percent--have been political choices based on their ties to the Trump administration or the amount of money they donated to the Trump campaign.  In a normal administration, at the end of four years, the ratio is about two-thirds career officers and one-third political appointees.  

Comment:  While the percentage of political appointees to career officers may change over the next three years, the outlook for career Foreign Service officers is pretty dismal.  

The Administration's Campaign against Career Ambassadors

 The Mining Journal published on 2 January 2026 an editorial titled "Trump's Mass Firing of Diplomats a Danger to US Standing."

At full complement, the United States has about 195 ambassadorships.  Just before Christmas, the Trump administration fired 30 career ambassadors (as opposed to ambassadors appointed because of their political connections or campaign contributions).  When added to the already 79 ambassadorial vacancies, this means that more than half of America's ambassadorial positions are now vacant.  The editorial makes the point that so many ambassadorial vacancies provide an opportunity for adversaries like China and Russia to gain foreign policy advantages.

Comment:  The overwhelming number of ambassadors appointed by the Trump administration so far have been political appointees.  The prospect for career Foreign Service Officers to become ambassadors appears bleak, which contributes to the current demoralization of the career service.   

Destroying American Diplomacy

 The Steady State published on 5 December 2025 a commentary titled "Destroying American Diplomacy: Pulling Down Our First Line of Defense" by Charles A. Ray, who spent 20 years in the US Army and 30 years in the US State Department as a Foreign Service Officer and two-time ambassador.  

Ray details how the Trump administration, as it seeks to end the so-called "deep state," is destroying the State Department and US Foreign Service in the process.

U.S. Foreign Service at the Breaking Point

 The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) posted on 3 December 2025 a survey titled "At the Breaking Point: The State of the U.S. Foreign Service in 2025."

AFSA polled all of its active-duty members and received a response from 2,100 or about one-third of the total.  The results reflect a crisis developing in the organization where I served for 37 years.  

Some 86 percent of respondents said changes in the workplace since January 2025 have affected their ability to advance U.S. diplomatic priorities.  A whopping 98 percent reported poor morale.  Nearly one-third reported changing their career plans since January 2025.

US State Department: How Not to Manage a Bureaucracy

 The New York Times published on 2 December 2025 an article titled "U.S. Diplomats Report Broken Morale and Abandoned Careers" by Michael Crowley.

A recent American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) survey of 2,100 State Department diplomats reported that 98 percent believe workplace morale has fallen since the Trump administration took power in January.  Only 1 percent reported an improvement in the situation in the State Department.  

CNN covered the same report on 3 December 2025 in an article titled "Trump Administration Changes Have Left US Diplomats Demoralized and Less Able to Do Their Jobs, Report Says" by Jennifer Hansler.

CNN quotes the president of AFSA as saying: "The Foreign Service--the very institution tasked with navigating our global interests--is being dismantled in real time."  Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised State Department personnel when he first arrived.  There is now a belief he has turned his back on them.  

How to Sink State Department Morale

 HuffPost published on 26 July 2025 an article titled "Trump Is Gutting the State Department and Dragging Diplomats 'Through the Mud'" by Akbar Shahid Ahmed. 

The State Department recently fired more than 1,300 personnel and provided incentives for another 1,500 to quit.  It also has a hiring freeze in effect so that new staff cannot be added.

The article suggests that the firings are party ideologically motivated.  The demonizing of civil service and foreign service staff has sunk morale.  The author concludes that the State Department will likely be left "to wither" for the remainder of Trump's term.  

 

State Department Reductions in Force

 The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), the organization that represents personnel in the State Department and other international affairs agencies, issued a statement on 11 July 2025 titled "AFSA Strongly Opposes State Department Reductions in Force." 

The statement appeared before more than 1,300 civil service and foreign service personnel at the U.S. Department of State learned today that they are being dismissed.  These dismissals follow a 20 percent reduction in personnel because of the dismantlement of the U.S. Agency for International Development and earlier forced resignations.  

Comment:  This is a sad day for civil service and foreign service personnel in the State Department.  While it has been done in the name of "reform," it has nothing to do with reform.  It is little more than part of a much larger effort to shrink the U.S. government in the mistaken view that it can do more with less.  The American public can judge the results in the years to come.

There are legitimate reasons to periodically change foreign policy priorities, eliminate functions, and add them.  But the reduction in force used in this "reform" does not appear to follow any coherent effort to take into account the skills and expertise of those being dismissed or the growing challenges that confront American foreign policy.     

Draft State Department Executive Order: Seems to Be a Real Test Run

 The Federal News Network published on 21 April 2025 an article titled "Foreign Service Faces Overhaul in Vetting, Deployment of Career Diplomats under Draft Executive Order" by Jory Heckman.

This article gives credence to the argument that the draft executive order for turning the State Department upside down is a real document designed to elicit comment.  The author concludes that publicly released executive orders usually bear a strong resemblance to earlier drafts.  The American Foreign Service Association responded that "reorganization of the State Department by leaks and confusion isn't a strategy--it's a recipe for failure."

Is State Department Next in Line for Dismantlement?

The Washington Post published on 14 April 2025 an article titled "Trump Plan Would Slash State Dept. Funding by Nearly Half, Memo Says" by Adam Taylor and John Hudson.   

The Washington Post reviewed an internal memo prepared by the White House Office of Management and Budget that proposes a reduction by almost half in the State Department's budget for 2025.  Many of the reductions are funding for international organizations such as the UN and NATO.  The budget described in the memo is subject to deliberations in the Trump administration and in Congress.  

National Public Radio posted on 14 April 2025 a 10-minute podcast titled "Big Changes at the U.S. State Department" by Michele Kelemen, Lauren Frayer, and Greg Dixon.  

The podcast describes dramatic changes, including politicization, taking place at the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.  

American Foreign Service Association Sues President Trump

 USA Today published on 8 April 2025 an article titled "Foreign Service Union Representing 18,000 Workers Sues Trump Administration" by Erin Mansfield.  

The American Foreign Service Association is suing President Donald Trump and his administration for ending its ability to negotiate work conditions with the federal government.  

The Plight of USAID Staff Overseas

 The Associated Press published on 12 February 2025 an article titled "USAID Staffers Describe Colleagues Abandoned in Violence in Congo as DOGE Ends Assistance Programs" by Ellen Knickmeyer.

The article describes the plight of USAID staff forced to leave the Democratic Republic of Congo and the status of USAID staff generally, especially those left on their own overseas.  

USAID Dismantlement Goes Forward in Spite of Errors by Department of Justice

 Newsweek published on 11 February 2025 an article titled "Trump Administration Admits It Made Significant Errors in Dismantling USAID" by Martha McHardy.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has acknowledged making 2 factual errors in an initial court hearing for the lawsuit contesting the dismantlement of USAID.  While DOJ has corrected the errors, Elon Musk and the Trump administration are going forward with the dismantlement of USAID.  President Trump writes on Truth Social "close it down."  

Temporary Restraining Order Concerning Dismantlement of USAID

 U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols granted in part the American Foreign Service Association and American Federation of Government Employees motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) as it relates to the placement of nearly all USAID employees on administrative leave and the unwarranted evacuation of USAID employees and their families from overseas.  The TRO will remain in effect until 14 February.

The order temporarily halts the placement of all USAID employees on administrative leave and recall efforts as the plaintiffs continue to pursue litigation.  Judge Nichols ordered the government to reinstate all USAID employees currently on administrative leave, granting those employees complete access to email, payment, and security notification systems. As this is a temporary order, this matter is far from over.   

Text of Legal Injunction to Stop Dismantling of USAID

 The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) filed on 6 February a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief against Donald Trump, the US Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development, the United States Treasury Department, Marco Rubio, and Scott Bessent.

The action seeks "injunctive relief with respect to a series of unconstitutional and illegal actions taken by President Donald Trump and his administration that have systematically dismantled the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)."  The plaintiffs "seek a temporary restraining order directing Defendents to reverse these unlawful actions and to halt any further steps to dissolve the agency until the Court has an opportunity to more fully consider the issues on the merits."

Trump-appointed federal judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia approved on 7 February a limited temporary restraining order that would block USAID employees from being put on administrative leave.  Details on the pause will follow in a forthcoming filing.