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According to Rubio, the State Department has removed “DEI excesses” from the Foreign Service Officer recruitment and entrance exams process, and updated curriculum for new officers to focus on “serious diplomatic history, tradecraft, and the basics of America First foreign policy,” instead of “bureaucratic tedium.” Additionally, the promotion process has changed so that seniority is no longer the primary basis for advancement.

The change is enabling “high-performing” officers to be promoted to leadership positions sooner, “rather than being stuck in the bowels of the bureaucracy,” according to the State Department.

Last December, Rubio outlined issues he said he had seen at the State Department with DEI, arguing it is “critically important that people be promoted on the basis of merit and skill.” At the State Department, DEI programs had negatively impacted some career diplomats who “weren’t committed enough to the DEI cause,” Rubio warned.

“There were people not being promoted in the State Department, because even though they were exemplary foreign officers, their DEI score under the previous [Biden] administration was too low,” he told the press. “They did a great job, but they had a low DEI score.”

At the time, Rubio also expressed concern about the State Department’s system for promoting officers. He warned that, given the years it typically takes for employees to advance, the State Department is seeing skilled officers drop out in favor of more rewarding jobs in the private sector.

“If we don’t promote some of these people, we’re going to lose them, because there’s a lot of money to be made in the private sector,” Rubio said. “If people don’t see upward mobility where they work, if they don’t see the opportunity that, by working hard and being successful, I’m going to be able to get ahead, they think they’re meeting roadblocks, they may leave.”