A recent report published by the Foreign Service Association (AFSA), [entitled “At the Breaking Point, the State of the U.S. Foreign Service in 2025,"]( https://afsa.org/sites/default/files/at-the-breaking-point-full-report.pdf) describes a Foreign Service in crisis, as a result of the foreign policy priorities imposed by the Trump administration and carried out by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as National Security Advisor. Rubio is known to have purged all dissenting voices from both the State Department and the National Security Council.
AFSA president John Dinkleman, a 37-year career officer who held several positions at the State Department prior to his Nov. 1 retirement, describes the situation as “an exponential crisis of unprecedented proportions,” characterized by dysfunction due to budget gouging and mass firings. The situation will take “years, if not decades” to fix, he warns.
AFSA is a professional association which serves as a kind of “trade union” for all foreign service members, 80% of whom join AFSA. The just published report aggregated the views of 2,100 foreign service members between August and September of this year. It’s not that the State Department under the previous Biden and Obama administrations were models of virtuosity. But AFSA’s report stresses that Foreign Service professionals are being ordered to adhere to the President’s political agenda without dissent or input and often with punishment if they get out of line. Crucial functions of the State Department such as humanitarian aid, disaster relief or environmental assistance are being drastically reduced and more budget cuts are coming in 2026.
