This year marks my 3rd year in the Foreign Service, but my first presidential transition. When President Biden announced he wouldn’t seek re-election, it guaranteed I would have a new boss come the new year, and after winning the election in November, President Trump is now in charge, with Marco Rubio promptly receiving Senate approval shortly after the inauguration to be Secretary of State.
I have said this multiple times throughout the last few years, but this is definitely a job in government where you have to understand going into that you will serve under different government leaders with very different priorities. If you find yourself overtly political and unwilling to serve under certain individuals, this isn’t the job for you. There’s nothing wrong with having your own political beliefs and you are free to vote as you choose, but as a professional in government, in you execution of your duties it’s important to shelf your beliefs and execute the will of the administration to the best of your abilities (and within the U.S. Constitution that we swore to uphold).
I applied for this job in 2020, a few months before the election, and honestly had now clue who would be my boss should I ever get hired. After the rigmarole of the application process in the middle of the pandemic, I found myself getting invited to the FS after President Biden had been in charge for about a year, and until this week, that is the administration I worked under.
It’s interesting seeing how a presidential transition plays out. Some folks think nothing really happens between November and the swearing in of a new administration, but up until Monday morning before President Trump was sworn in, the Biden Administration was sending out guidance and policy priorities at full speed. Then all of a sudden….silence.
It took a couple of days after the inauguration for information to trickle out to posts about policy priorities for President Trump and Secretary Rubio, but once they started the messaging, it became a fire hose. The State Department is lucky in that we were the first department in the Executive to have their Secretary confirmed by the Senate, so we have clear leadership on day one. After 99-0 unanimous approval, Secretary Rubio was sworn in the following morning and arrived at the Harry Truman building in Foggy Bottom to make a well received speech about his new role and Trump Administration priorities.
The messaging seems pretty consistent for a department that works in diplomacy. We want to advance our national interests, promote peace, avoid conflicts, prioritize American safety, and ensure the State Department is the centerpiece of how we as a nation engage with the world. I think these are priorities no matter your political affiliation that are easy to get behind. I guess the method in how we execute these priorities will be more interesting.
More specific to my job in MED, nothing really changes. I still take care of patients and assess host country medical capabilities. I guess that’s one beauty of the job is that I am relatively sheltered from the swings in political policy. Again though, I applied knowing that in a 20+ year career, I’m definitely going to serve in governments that don’t align with my own political beliefs, and that’s okay. It’s still a great job.
The next few months are going to be interesting to see how this new administration tries to implement its foreign policy goals. There will definitely be changes on the macro and micro levels, but fortunately, one of the things all employees of the Foreign Service are hired for is our adaptability. A lot of the fear and uncertainty that comes with a changing of the guard will eventually fade away, and we will continue to represent our country abroad and advance our national interests as we always have done. Here’s to a hopeful and bright future. -Nick
