State Department to Resume “Low-Ranking” Employees Amid Performance Scrutiny

The U.S. State Department is preparing to resume a process of “low-ranking” employees – essentially issuing performance failures – as part of a broader effort to increase accountability and align personnel with the priorities of the Trump administration. This move comes alongside proposed changes to performance evaluations and follows mass layoffs last summer.

Resumption of Low-Ranking Process

Under Secretary for Management Jason Evans announced to the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the department will begin identifying employees who are not meeting performance standards. “Over the past few years, we have not been low-ranking personnel,” Evans stated. “We’re going to start doing that again so that we can identify the people through this process of evaluation, we can identify our officers that aren’t quite meeting the mark.”

According to a Foreign Service officer who spoke with Federal News Network, being “low-ranked” is considered equivalent to receiving a failing grade within the Foreign Service.

Evans clarified that employees identified as low-ranked will have an opportunity to compete for other positions within the department before facing removal. The department will first attempt to address performance deficiencies through skill development. “The first step in that process is to perform with that person to see if we can develop the skillsets that they’re lacking to bring them up to speed. And if we get to a situation where that person is just not right for the Foreign Service, then we’ll make a different decision,” he said.

Changes to Performance Evaluations

These changes are occurring as the Trump administration seeks to limit the number of federal employees receiving top marks on their annual performance reviews. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has proposed a rule to remove the current ban on a “forced distribution” of performance ratings, aiming for “more accurate and rigorous” evaluations and increased accountability [1].

In response, the State Department is preparing to issue fewer top ratings to Foreign Service officers. Supervisors will face scrutiny if they award excessively high scores. “If supervisors decide that every one of their direct reports is a superstar and gives everybody a five, then that’s going to seem poorly upon that supervisor,” Evans explained. “We actually expect them to rank people.”

Concerns from the American Foreign Service Association

John Dinkelman, president of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), expressed concerns about the proposed changes. While acknowledging that a process for identifying poor performers has always existed, Dinkelman criticized the shift towards comparing employees against each other, particularly given the geographically dispersed and diverse nature of Foreign Service assignments. He stated that this change “does nothing to address the larger issue of the damage done to morale caused by a year’s worth of mistreatment and distrust.”

Evaluation of Alignment with Trump Administration Policies

Last summer, the State Department updated its criteria for promotions and career advancement, incorporating an evaluation of officers’ “fidelity” to Trump administration policies. Evans stated that officers will be scored on their alignment with defined success criteria for the Foreign Service and supervisors will be held accountable for these evaluations.

Recent Layoffs and Hiring

The State Department sent layoff notices to nearly 1,350 employees last summer, including approximately 250 Foreign Service officers. While civil service employees were separated from the department, Foreign Service officers remain on paid administrative leave pending resolution of legal challenges. Despite these layoffs, the department has been actively hiring, bringing on approximately 100 Foreign Service officers in September and 160 in January 2026 [4].

Evans emphasized the need to build a merit-based system and recruit individuals with sound judgment. He also indicated that the nearly 250 Foreign Service employees who received layoff notices will not be eligible to compete for vacant positions at this time.

Congressional Response

Democratic lawmakers have urged the State Department to reconsider the layoffs and allow affected diplomats to compete for open positions, citing their existing security clearances and experience. Republicans have expressed support for the department’s recent evacuations of Americans from the Middle East and are exploring potential reforms to the 1980 Foreign Service Act.