The State Department is set to replace the existing Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT) in favor of a more “merit-based” structure, the agency exclusively told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Wednesday.
The FSOT will be replaced with a new formulation, scrapping the current iteration for a test not “riddled with [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] principles,” a senior State Department official told the DCNF. The move is part of a larger push under Secretary Rubio and President Trump to revamp the agency by cutting wasteful spending and re-prioritizing the department’s efforts toward U.S. national interests.
“Secretary Rubio, under President Trump’s leadership, is weeding out these abuses and distortions and restoring a system where talent, not affirmative action, drives opportunities,” the senior State Department official told the DCNF. “The new FSOT will be merit-driven, opening the door to patriots ready to serve no matter their race, religion, sex, or ethnicity.”
A senior State Department official told the DCNF that some questions on the old FSOT were designed to exclude some ordinary Americans from the Foreign Service based on their upbringing.
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The old FSOT included questions on how often applicants ‘seek out activities with diverse ethnic and cultural groups’ and how likely they are to develop relationships with people for whom English was not a first language, according to materials obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Foreign service officers are expected to manage relations with America’s many allies across the world. The new test is intended to be one of many steps taken to overhaul the Foreign Service program.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February calling for a revamp of the U.S. diplomatic corps, charging Rubio with employing “an exceptional workforce of patriots.” In the past, State Department employees have long had a reputation for having politically liberal leanings and often enforcing their ideas with agency policy, especially under former President Joe Biden’s administration.
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The FSOT was de-emphasized as a neutral barrier to entry to the diplomatic corps in favor of incorporating other “intersectional” factors under the Biden administration, according to a report from the Heritage Foundation.
Since Trump took office, the State Department — long known for its liberal leanings — has seen an influx of conservatives, bolstered by recruiting pipelines such as the Ben Franklin Fellowship.
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