The U.S. State Department has torn up a set of Biden-administration rules that shaped how American diplomats were trained, evaluated and promoted, swapping diversity-focused standards for what officials call a merit-first system. In an Aug. 13 statement, the agency said an internal review had found diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEI) material embedded across Foreign Service coursework, hiring standards and performance evaluations — and that all of it has now been removed.
