The State Department\u2019s new criteria for promotions and career advancement in the Foreign Service will assess employees, in part, on their \u201cfidelity\u201d to the Trump administration\u2019s policy goals.<\/p>\n
The department\u2019s newly released \u201ccore precepts\u201d for tenure and promotion will grade Foreign Service on five criteria \u2014 fidelity, communication, leadership, management and knowledge. Previous versions of this scorecard placed a greater emphasis on subject-matter expertise and assessing an employee\u2019s contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion goals.<\/p>\n
The State Department\u2019s Bureau of Global Talent Management releases new precepts every three years, outlining the most important qualities Foreign Service officers must demonstrate to advance to higher ranks.<\/p>\n
The department is unilaterally implementing these new standards as it\u2019s preparing for mass layoffs that will reshape both its civil service and Foreign Service workforce. Critics say these changes place a greater emphasis on loyalty to the administration and less of a focus on skills and expertise. Similar criticisms have been raised against the Trump administration directing federal job candidates to fill out short essays, explaining how they would advance the administration\u2019s priorities.<\/p>\n
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As part of a newly added \u201cfidelity\u201d standard, Foreign Service employees across all ranks will be evaluated on their contributions to \u201cprotecting and promoting executive power.\u201d The fidelity portion of the scorecard links to a White House webpage listing President Donald Trump\u2019s executive orders and presidential actions.<\/p>\n
The Bureau of Global Talent Management says that mid-level Foreign Service officers should be able to demonstrate how they are \u201czealously executing\u201d U.S. government policy.<\/p>\n
Under these new standards, senior-level employees seeking promotion into the Senior Executive Service must demonstrate how they are \u201cquickly and completely aligning oneself and one\u2019s team to the most current [U.S.] goals,\u201d as well as \u201cresolving uncertainty on the side of fidelity to one\u2019s chain of command.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bureau of Global Talent Management wrote that the core precepts \u201creflect the competencies determined to be the most critical to successful service throughout a Foreign Service career and comprise the most important competencies in which potential must be demonstrated in order to advance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough evaluation of these competencies, Foreign Service Selection Boards identify and rank-order employees who, through their files, demonstrate potential to succeed in positions of greater responsibility and, assuming normal growth and career development, to serve effectively as Foreign Service Officers over a normal career span,\u201d the bureau wrote.<\/p>\n
The Foreign Service made diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility one of its core precepts for evaluating employees between 2022 and 2025. But Trump signed an executive order in March<\/a> removing that DEIA criteria from Foreign Service evaluations.<\/p>\n The Bureau of Global Talent Management states these core competencies \u201cshould be used as guiding principles for all employees seeking tenure into the Foreign Service.\u201d<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n \u201cWhile the list is not exhaustive, individuals are expected to progressively demonstrate substantive knowledge and experience across each of the competencies,\u201d the bureau wrote.<\/p>\n The Foreign Service outlined the following core precepts<\/a> for employees between 2022 and 2025:<\/p>\n Foreign Service employees were assessed on the following core precepts between 2018 and 2021:<\/p>\n A Foreign Service officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not cleared to speak to the media, called the precepts \u201cscary and totally backwards,\u201d adding that they prioritize \u201cfidelity to the president\u201d over skills and experience.<\/p>\n The American Foreign Service Association said the State Department implemented these new criteria \u201cwithout meaningful consultation,\u201d and that the prioritization of fidelity \u201crisks eroding the very foundation of an apolitical Foreign Service that serves the American people \u2014 not any single administration.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis new standard insults the professionalism and integrity of the Foreign Service, undermining decades of merit-based evaluations. Its vague wording suggests that officers will now be judged on their willingness to bend with political winds rather than on their skills, expertise, and steadfast dedication to nonpartisan service.\u201d<\/p>\n The Office of Personnel Management, in a Merit Hiring Plan<\/a> it released in May, outlined the Trump administration\u2019s plans to ensure \u201conly the most talented, capable and patriotic Americans are hired to the Federal service.\u201d<\/p>\n Under this hiring strategy, all federal job vacancy announcements graded GS-5 or above will require candidates to write four short essays, each 200 words or less. The essays ask candidates what they\u2019d do to improve government efficiency, and how they would \u201cadvance the President\u2019s Executive Orders and policy priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n OPM, however, is now placing less of an emphasis on these essays, telling agencies they can\u2019t screen out applications from candidates who don\u2019t complete the essays.<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n In follow-up guidance<\/a> to agency chief human capital officers, OPM said \u201canswers to these questions are not scored or rated,\u201d and that agencies should treat responses the same way they would treat a cover letter.<\/p>\n \u201cThe questions give candidates an opportunity to provide additional information about themselves, their background, and dedication to public service, but must not be used as a means of determining whether the candidate fulfills the qualifications of a position,\u201d OPM wrote. \u201cThe questions also must not be used to impose an ideological litmus test on candidates.\u00a0 If an applicant does not answer the questions along with their application, they will not be disqualified or screened out.\u201d<\/p>\n Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) said this new guidance \u201cmay transform OPM\u2019s use of the essays from an illegal screening tactic to a silly waste of time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAsking federal job applicants how they feel about Trump has no place in the merit system. Such questions are highly inappropriate,\u201d PEER General Counsel Joanna Citron Day, a former attorney for the Justice Department, Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency, said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n
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