Blinken Wrote DEIA Into the
State Department’s Core Precepts.
Rubio Replaced It With Fidelity.
On May 11, 2026, the Daily Caller documented the next phase of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s (R-FL)systematic dismantling of the DEI architecture his predecessor installed at Foggy Bottom. LGBT modules, “singles” modules, “pets” modules, and a “blindfold resilience” exercise — all cut from the State Department’s A-100 orientation course for new Foreign Service Officers. New diplomats are now reading Angelo Codevilla and the basics of America First foreign policy instead.
The infrastructure being removed is not abstract. In April 2021, then-Secretary Antony Blinken (D) created a brand-new Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer position, appointed Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley to fill it, gave her a ~12-person office and a standing bimonthly meeting with the Secretary. By 2022 the DEIA precept was the second of five core precepts governing every Foreign Service hire and promotion. By 2025 the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was on the record describing “senior advisors for DEIA” in nearly every bureau and “Soviet-style anonymous reporting portals,” where employees were encouraged to denounce colleagues.
Rubio has now replaced the DEIA precept with “fidelity.” The DEI questionnaire is gone from the FSO test. The Pickering and Rangel diplomatic fellowships are paused. The university diplomat-in-residence program is canceled. The workforce is being shrunk by 15% — roughly 2,850 positions out of ~19,000 — and A-100 has been re-weighted from 81 sessions in January 2025 to 111 sessions under Rubio, a 37% increase in substantive training hours. The accountability frame is clean: Democratic officials installed it; Republican officials, with full paper trail, are removing it.
- Fidelityreplaces DEIA as 2nd core preceptOf five Foreign Service core precepts established under Sec. Blinken in 2022. Rubio swap finalized April 2026.
- +37%A-100 training hours under Rubio81 sessions (January 2025) → 111 sessions — ideological modules out, history/strategy/tradecraft in.
- 1,353State Dept RIF notices, July 20251,107 civil service + 246 Foreign Service positions; ~250 additional FSO RIFs finalizing April 2026.
- ~15%total workforce reduction targetOf the ~19,000-person State workforce (~2,850 positions). ~3,400 U.S.-based positions notified to Congress May 2025.
- April 12, 2021Blinken created the roleChief Diversity and Inclusion Officer first occupied by Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley; bimonthly standing meeting with Secretary; ~12 staff.
LGBT modules: Mandatory orientation segments on LGBT identity and workplace inclusion — removed.
“Singles” modules: Sessions oriented around the experience of unmarried Foreign Service Officers — removed.
“Pets” modules: Sessions on pet logistics for diplomatic postings — removed.
“Blindfold resilience” exercise: An A-100 exercise in which new diplomats donned blindfolds as a resilience-training device — removed.
What was added:Substantive diplomatic history (including Angelo Codevilla’s work on statecraft), classical tradecraft, and an explicit America First foreign policy framing. A-100 grew from 81 sessions to 111 — the time freed by removing ideological modules was reallocated to historical and strategic content.
“The Department has removed DEI excesses from Foreign Service hiring and refocused our entrance exams to better measure intellect and relevant knowledge. New officers are being taught serious diplomatic history, tradecraft, and the basics of America First foreign policy rather than sitting through bureaucratic tedium.”
Sec. Marco Rubio (R-FL) · 'The Face of America Abroad' (Substack, April 2026)
Antony Blinken (D)— Secretary of State, 2021–2025. On April 12, 2021, announced the creation of the State Department’s first Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer role. In 2022, embedded DEIA as the second of five core precepts governing every Foreign Service hire and promotion.
Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley — First Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, April 2021 to June 30, 2023. Reported directly to Sec. Blinken; held a bimonthly standing meeting with the Secretary; oversaw an office of approximately twelve staff.
Sen. James Risch (R-ID)— Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman. At the July 16, 2025 reform hearing, on record documenting “senior advisors for DEIA in nearly every bureau” and “Soviet-style anonymous reporting portals.”
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) — Ranking Member, House Foreign Affairs Committee. December 2025 letter pressing Rubio on the pause of the Pickering and Rangel diplomatic fellowships.
“Adherence to these goals was assured through a rigid enforcement structure that included 'senior advisors for DEIA' in nearly every bureau, and Soviet-style anonymous reporting portals, where employees were encouraged to denounce colleagues who would not tow the company line.”
Sen. James Risch (R-ID) · Chairman, SFRC · July 16, 2025 opening statement
The DEI rollback is the visible front of a much larger reorganization. In July 2025, the State Department issued 1,353 Reduction-in-Force notices — 1,107 civil-service and 246 Foreign Service positions. An additional roughly 250 FSO RIFs are finalizing in April 2026. In May 2025, the Department formally notified Congress of plans to eliminate approximately 3,400 U.S.-based positions and close or merge nearly half of its ~300 domestic offices.
The Pickering and Rangel diplomatic fellowship application cycles for 2026 are paused. Summer 2025 internships were paused. The diplomat-in-residence program — which placed Foreign Service Officers at U.S. universities as recruiters and instructors — is canceled.
The story is not whether DEI at State was good or bad. The story is that, however good or bad it was, it was built openly and deliberately by named Democratic officials over four years, and it is being dismantled openly and deliberately by named Republican officials in real time. There is no mystery about the accountability chain on either end. Sec. Blinken installed it. Sec. Rubio is removing it. Both sets of decisions live in press releases, hearing transcripts, and Substack posts that named officials signed.
Under Sec. Blinken (D), State built a parallel HR regime — a Chief Diversity Officer, DEIA core precepts, “Soviet-style” reporting portals. Under Sec. Rubio (R-FL), “fidelity” replaces “DEIA,” LGBT/pets/blindfold modules are out, Pickering and Rangel are paused, the workforce is shrinking 15%. No hidden hand on either end. Just two administrations and their on-record signatures.