House Democrats have asked the State Department’s inspector general to investigate the agency’s internal personnel decision making after The Washington Sun reported that nonpartisan foreign service officers up for promotion had been asked about their voting and political donation histories.
The requests came from Reps. Gregory Meeks (New York) and Robert Garcia (California), the top Democrats on the Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees, respectively, who said the practices violate the law and undermine American diplomacy.
“An administration can appoint political leadership and expect career employees to carry out its lawful policies,” the lawmakers said in their letter. “It cannot make a career diplomat’s voting history, campaign contributions, or perceived partisan allegiance a condition of advancement.”
The Democratic lawmakers asked the watchdog to probe whether the State Department has demonstrated any political favoritism within its career staff and if Secretary Marco Rubio, or other senior leaders, ordered or carried out politically motivated personnel actions. They also cited previous reporting from The Sun that State is pushing out senior foreign service personnel and identifying staff it has identified as politically aligned with administration for higher-ranking jobs.
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After initially declining to comment on nonpartisan staff being asked political questions and telling The Sun that the department’s screening process was “not about partisan behavior but rather about executing the president’s vision for foreign policy,” State — seven hours after the story published — refuted the reporting and called it an “absurd premise.”
The Sun reported that top State officials asked candidates up for new assignments who they voted for in 2016, 2020 and 2024 and told the employees their political donation history would be examined to ensure no Democratic support.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said she and other relevant committees were already working to “thoroughly investigate” allegations of unlawful political favoritism.
Democracy Defenders Fund, a liberal group that has repeatedly sued the Trump administration, previously asked the State Department’s inspector general to investigate the reports of nonpartisan staff being asked political questions.
A spokesperson for the inspector general’s office said it could not confirm, deny or comment on investigative matters. The office is currently being led on an acting basis by Arne Baker after Trump fired Cardell Richardson shortly after taking office.
Subsequent to publication, The Sun has spoken to several additional individuals who have been asked questions about their political affiliations when being considered for new roles.
Simon Hankinson is a former career foreign service officer who after leaving the State Department cofounded the Ben Franklin Fellowship, a group whose members The Sun and others have reported are receiving preferential treatment for job placements. Hankinson denied that his group has won any outsized influence within the State Department but acknowledged screening for political alignment was likely occurring.
“Given that the overwhelming majority of foreign service officers are left-leaning, it is harder for a Republican president to find suitable ambassadors than it is for a Democrat,” he said. “That’s just a fact of life. And so, yeah, they would probably want to look at somebody’s history.”
Both the Democrats and Democracy Defenders Fund noted the political questions would violate the 1980 Foreign Service Act.
“Tying foreign service officers’ promotions to their personal political activity and voting record is outrageous and undermines the integrity of the entire State Department,” said DDF Executive Chair Norm Eisen. “Imposing an ideological loyalty test of this kind would fly in the face of the merit-based principles our foreign service was built on.”
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