DEIA: A Trojan Horse for Political Discrimination

By Dexter Emmet and Ian Archer

The Department of State has weaponized DEI policies to systematically sideline the careers of Foreign Service Officers who fail to demonstrate unwavering fealty to woke ideology and left-wing political activism.

In 2022, the Department of State began rating employees on how they infused DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility) principles into their work. On promotion review panels for Foreign Service Officers (FSOs), the DEIA score counts for 20 percent of each FSO’s overall score for promotion. Demonstrating allegiance to DEIA is not merely encouraged—it is mandatory. Those failing to profess sufficient enthusiasm or incorporate DEIA into their work are systematically penalized, effectively barring them from career advancement.

This ideology has metastasized into every aspect of the Department’s operations, forcing employees to demonstrate the DEIA precept to the satisfaction of the Foreign Service promotion boards by endorsing, promoting, and implementing policies that violate their personal beliefs, professional ethics, and that are at odds with the views of the majority of Americans. Examples include:

  • Mandatory written DEIA statements for onward assignments in certain bureaus

  • Requirement to show examples of DEIA activism in interviews for onward assignments

  • Pressure to list pronouns on email signatures

  • Racial “struggle sessions” during orientation and trainings in which white officers were pressured to denounce their “privilege” and read CRT texts like “White Fragility”

  • Pressure to participate in embassy Diversity Councils

  • Requirement for some FSOs to promote transgenderism to youth as part of their job duties, including support for youth-oriented drag shows, promoting violent Black Lives Matters protests and national anthem kneelers in public communications

  • Requiring employees to participate in ceremonies to raise the pride and/or BLM flags at U.S. embassies

  • Pressure to officially represent U.S. missions abroad in local “2SLGBTQI+” parades, wear pride-themed clothing, makeup, lanyards, and wave a rainbow version of the U.S. flag

  • Male consular officers were ordered to step aside from adjudicating medical visa cases involving IVF, surrendering their professional responsibilities to female colleagues in a blatant act of gender-based discrimination.

DEIA is not about fostering fairness or inclusion. It is about forcing ideological conformity and creating a punitive apparatus for those who dissent.

Neutrality Is Not Permitted

The Department of State has made it clear that neutrality is no longer an option. Officers are encouraged to engage in “effort beyond one's direct responsibilities” to champion DEIA or risk career stagnation via a low DEIA score. For example, participating in the implementation of a diversity-conscious hiring process was considered “passive support” and deemed “insufficient.” Examples of sufficient DEIA infusion include:

  • Imposing DEIA-advancing goals on subordinate’s work requirements statements

  • Converting single-sex restrooms into gender-neutral restrooms

  • Avoiding gender-specific family terms like mother, father, and child

  • Incorporating DEIA precepts into vendor contracts, housing assignments, scholarship and grantee selection

  • Including a member of a mission’s Diversity Council at weekly mission leadership meetings

  • Initiatives to overcome locally employed staff skepticism of DEIA policies, which are often contrary to local religious beliefs, traditions, and customs

Meritocracy Replaced by Ideological Loyalty

The DEIA precept has transformed the State Department's promotion process into a litmus test for ideological conformity, penalizing those who prioritize professionalism over activism. Promotion boards, tasked with reviewing the past five years of an officer’s performance, were directed by the Department of State to retroactively evaluate performance reviews for compliance with DEIA principles.

This approach rewarded officers who had politicized their work before the DEIA precept was formally introduced in 2022, while punishing those who adhered to longstanding norms of neutrality and nonpartisanship. Notably, no "grandfather clause" was included to account for periods predating the policy's implementation. The result? Liberal activist officers, who had proactively infused DEIA into their performance reports prior to the mandate, were rewarded with higher scores and accelerated promotion rates. Conversely, those who adhered to their professional duty to remain nonpartisan were penalized.

The DEIA precept does not merely reward leftwing activism—it punishes dissent and erodes the foundational principles of meritocracy and impartiality in federal service.

Now is the time for DEI to die

The incoming Trump administration has an historic opportunity to restore merit-based hiring and promotions to the State Department. The Department of State must focus on its core mission of advancing America’s interests rather than wasting energy and resources on left-wing activism.

The Department of State should consider the following:

  • Immediately eliminate DEIA from the core precepts—no phase-out period, no half-measures. Replace it with “interpersonal skills,” a once-standard precept that fosters genuine collaboration and reflects the integrity, merit, and accountability essential for effective leadership—not the entrenchment of narrow ideological dogma that rewards activism over competence.

  • Abolish Ideological litmus tests in hiring and bidding. Eliminate any criteria that explicitly or implicitly probes personal political beliefs, activism, or ideological commitments. Implement civic neutrality policies ensuring that FSOs are evaluated on their ability to represent American interests abroad—not personal activism.

  • Remove all implicit bias training and unconscious bias workshops, which are unscientific and promote group-based stereotyping.

  • Establish an internal review of the 2022-2024 promotion boards to determine if the DEIA precept was used to violate the civil rights of FSOs. Publish a breakdown of average DEIA scores by race, rank, and gender for 2022-2024.

  • End Diversity Councils

  • Conduct a comprehensive audit of all personnel decisions influenced by DEIA mandates. Collect testimonies from current and former employees who experienced ideological discrimination, viewpoint suppression, or career harm under DEIA frameworks. Establish whistleblower protections for those who come forward with evidence of unfair treatment or bias.

  • Create a task force to identify FSOs harmed by DEIA-based discrimination, including overlooked promotions, biased evaluations, or exclusion from leadership pipeline. Offer remedies such as retroactive promotions or career mentorship for those demonstrably harmed.

  • Reassert a professional, apolitical diplomatic culture centered on service to the nation, not identity politics by banning all partisan flags, symbols, emblems, and banners not just from official flagpoles, but from all DOS properties. This includes any variation of the pride flag, BLM flag, or pro-police flags.

  • Freeze and reassess all State Department grants and contracts awarded under DEIA frameworks to ensure they serve measurable diplomatic and national security objectives. Review all State Department grants that explicitly advance DEIA principles, many of which will not expire for five or more years.

  • End mission creep in cultural diplomacy. Review the scope and scale of embassy promotion of and participation in host nation cultural events (including pride parades) to ensure objectivity, proportionality, and alignment with U.S. foreign policy goals. Limit official celebration of holidays and commemorative days that are not recognized by the federal government.

  • Conduct a top-to-bottom review of all Integrated Country Strategies to ensure every element directly advances U.S. national interests—diplomatic, economic, and security priorities—rather than serving as a vehicle for exporting DEIA ideology abroad. Diplomatic resources should be focused on strengthening alliances, promoting American prosperity, and safeguarding national security, not ideological activism.

After four years of DEIA obsession, foreign policy is now a secondary or even tertiary function of the Department of State. Most career diplomats joined the Department driven by a passion for service, committed to defending America's national interests on the world stage. Instead, they found an institution consumed by postmodern, illiberal, identity-obsessed dogmas—policies that fracture morale, reward conformity, and often work directly against the mission they swore to uphold.

The new administration must seize this moment with clarity and conviction, wielding the mandate entrusted to it by the American people. Now is the time to banish DEIA policies from the Department of State and the federal government once and for all. This is not just about policy correction; it's about restoring competence, integrity, and unapologetic service to the national interest at the heart of American diplomacy.