Donald Trump’s State Department has been asking career diplomats up for promotion a question no nonpartisan civil servant should ever hear: who did you vote for? According to six current and former State officials, the agency asked some foreign service officers about their votes in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Officials made clear that only Trump voters would be eligible. Any donation to a Democrat would be disqualifying.

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A Loyalty Test for the Diplomatic Corps

File:U.S. State Department - Truman Building.JPG - Wikimedia Commons

The questions targeted mid-to-upper level foreign service roles, the career diplomats who run embassies and carry out American policy abroad. Three of the six sources had spoken directly with people who were asked.

Candidates were also told their campaign donation histories would be checked. A donation to Democrats would end their shot at promotion. These are not political appointees. They are permanent, career staff who are supposed to serve every president the same way.

Federal Law Bans This

This is not a gray area. Federal law bars personnel actions based on political affiliation across the career civil service. The whole point is to stop a president from turning the government into a reward system for his supporters.

Max Stier of the Partnership for Public Service called it an “appalling and flagrant disregard of federal law.” He compared it to the spoils system of the 19th century, when government jobs were handed out as political favors.

The State Department’s Shifting Story

Before and right after the story ran, the State Department declined to address the voting questions at all. A spokesperson instead talked up fidelity, which the department said meant carrying out the president’s foreign policy vision, not partisan behavior.

Seven hours after the story was published and widely shared, the department added a new statement. It rejected what it called the “absurd premise” that anyone was asked about political affiliation, and said the administration rewards merit over seniority. It still did not directly address the officials’ accounts.

Part of a Bigger Purge

This did not come out of nowhere. Last July the department added a fidelity section to foreign service performance reviews, grading employees on how completely they align with current administration goals. In January the diplomats’ union warned that a new evaluation form would undermine merit-based promotions and said it would file an unfair labor practice charge.

The department has shed nearly a quarter of its workforce through layoffs and buyouts. Veteran diplomats have been pushed out of senior jobs. The administration had already tried making federal job applicants write essays about their favorite Trump policies, then replaced those questions under court order.

Former Ambassadors Are Furious

Career diplomats who served Republican and Democratic presidents alike lit up social media. Steven Pifer, a former ambassador to Ukraine, said he spent 27 years carrying out policies of presidents he did and did not vote for, and called the move “outrageous.”

Luis Moreno, a former ambassador to Jamaica who joined under Ronald Reagan, said nobody ever asked how he voted. His verdict: the administration wants political hacks, not professionals. Former Rep. Tom Malinowski, once a diplomat himself, argued the questioning also violates the Hatch Act.

Democrats Are Investigating

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen announces retirement in New Hampshire – Roll Call

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said her committee has been tracking claims that the Trump administration makes political affiliation a factor in hiring. She said these national security jobs should go to people with experience and ability, not political loyalty.

Shaheen said Democrats are working with the House and other committees to investigate. With Republicans running both chambers, they cannot force answers yet. Sen. Andy Kim, a former State Department official, put it bluntly: this move is about serving Trump.

The Bottom Line

America’s diplomats are supposed to represent the whole country, not one man. Asking them who they voted for, and promoting only the right answer, is how you build a foreign service loyal to Trump instead of to the Constitution. Republicans who claim to care about the rule of law should be the first to demand answers.

Sources: The Washington Sun (Eric Katz, Anna Kramer), 2paragraphs (Lucy Strathmore), American Foreign Service Association.

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