State Department cuts DEI-based performance evaluations, returns to merit

The Trump administration's Department of State terminated performance evaluations based on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, according to the Department of Government Efficiency on Monday.

In a post on social media, the DOGE stated it discovered that 20% of foreign service officers' performance evaluations were based on DEI under the former Biden administration.

'Now our incredible Foreign Service Officers will be evaluated on true merit, not on arbitrary immutable characteristics.'

The DOGE explained that the diplomats were graded on whether they "avoided 'gendered adjectives' or faint praise"; "asked local organizations to 'promote DEIA training/programs/lectures' and 'annual DEIA awards ceremon[ies]' or focused foreign law enforcement cooperation on 'racial and gender justice issues'"; and "set race/gender quotas on embassy speaking panels and at other diplomatic events."

The DOGE's post included a photo of a slide deck featuring the DEI requirements, noting that using "gendered adjectives" could "unintentionally influence a reader."

It discouraged using "faint praise," providing the examples, "S/he worked hard on projects that s/he was assigned," and "s/he has never had temper tantrums."

Diplomats were also warned against "diminishing one's agency" by using phrases such as "she helped to organize a training" instead of "she led a training."

It advised against "doubt raisers or negative language" and "unnecessarily invoking a stereotype." The slide deck warned not to use "first names for women or minorities and titles for men."

"'Joan was an asset to our department.' vs. 'Dr. Smith was an asset to our department,'" it read.

The DOGE explained that State Department Secretary Marco Rubio worked with the department to "end[] this discrimination and restored merit to the foreign service."

Rubio responded to the DOGE's post, calling the termination of the DEI performance reviews "important and historic reforms" that would allow the department to return to prioritizing merit.

"Now our incredible Foreign Service Officers will be evaluated on true merit, not on arbitrary immutable characteristics," Rubio wrote.

The State Department's move to axe its DEI-related initiatives aligns with President Donald Trump's Inauguration Day executive order to root out the "radical and wasteful" programs.

According to the DOGE's website, the department has already saved roughly $140 billion in a "combination of asset sales, contract/lease cancellations and renegotiations, fraud and improper payment deletion, grant cancellations, interest savings, programmatic changes, regulatory savings, and workforce reductions."

As of Tuesday morning, the most significant savings were at the Department of Health and Human Services, followed by the Department of Education and the General Services Administration rounding out the top three spots.

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