The State Department announced Wednesday that it is modifying the Foreign Service Officer Test to reflect the foreign policy goals of the Trump administration and meet “the challenges of the 21st century.”
Under the new guidance, the exam is now revised to emphasize “merit in the selection process” by eliminating questions “intended to test alignment with the diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda.”
“The Trump administration is modernizing the Foreign Service to prepare America’s diplomats to advocate for our national interest on a dynamically changing world stage,” Tommy Pigott, the Department’s deputy spokesperson, said in a statement. “In this revamped program, Foreign Service Officers will be trained in crucial skills like public speaking and negotiation and engage with international relations theory on topics ranging from commercial diplomacy to grand strategy. The State Department encourages the many patriotic Americans from across the country looking to serve their country to apply to join the Foreign Service.”
The nation’s oldest cabinet agency also announced that the Qualification Evaluation Panel, which reviews and ranks candidates’ files on weeks-long reviews, is being replaced by a written examination test, arguing that “the ability to think critically and write clear prose continues to be an essential skill for Foreign Service Officers.”
The Department’s onboarding program for incoming foreign service officers, referred to as A-100, will be modified to train commissioned officers on “diplomatic history and America First foreign policy” lectures, featuring speeches and writings from early presidents George Washington, John Quincy Adams and James Monroe, selections from the Federalist Papers, and works from Cold War-era diplomat George Kennan, “Clash of Civilization” author Samuel Huntington and “America First” architect Angelo Codevilla.
“Foreign Service Officers will now receive substantive content on policy and tradecraft, which includes lectures on diplomatic history and America First foreign policy,” the Department added.
The new onboarding format will replace resilience exercises, such as a “90-minute activity that required participants to throw objects into a bucket while blindfolded.”
“A-100 will include lectures on international relations, including on economic strategy, commercial diplomacy, and grand strategy, as well as training on public speaking, negotiation, and leadership,” it explained.
The revamp follows a series of executive orders ditching DEI initiatives signed into law by President Trump since his second inauguration last year. A 2025 directive tasked Secretary of State Marco Rubio with maintaining “an exceptional workforce of patriots” to effectively implement the administration’s foreign policy goals.
The Department announced last fall that it had planned to revamp the foreign service exam and phase out DEI-related questionnaires. It later removed personal narrative essay requirements and discontinued the situational judgement section.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who served as Secretary of State in the Biden administration, backed DEI programs in Washington’s diplomatic arm and appointed a chief DEI officer. “The State Department has the honor of representing the American people to the world,” Blinken said in 2021. “To do that well, we must recruit and retain a workforce that truly reflects America. Diversity and inclusion make us stronger, smarter, more creative, and more innovative.”
