The U.S. State Department is experiencing a notable increase in retirements among senior Foreign Service officers. Career diplomats report feeling unwelcome under the Trump administration, which has prioritized political appointees for ambassador roles. This has led to a shrinking Foreign Service amid limited promotion opportunities.
Longtime diplomats like Kelly Adams-Smith, who served 28 years and was nominated for ambassador to Moldova under Biden, retired after receiving an impersonal email revoking her nomination upon Trump's return. Adams-Smith described the exodus as 'heartbreaking, staggering,' noting that experts on every area of the world are leaving at senior levels. She speaks Russian, Romanian, Czech, and other languages, but struggled to find a position in the administration. 'It was our job to give the American taxpayer a return on that investment. And we have not been able to do that now,' she said, according to NPR reporting by Michele Kelemen. Adams-Smith now teaches at American University and still encourages young people to join the Foreign Service, despite over 80 embassies lacking ambassadors. 'We are disarming. We're unilaterally disarming. Russia or China would never do that,' she added. America is ceding ground to geopolitical rivals, she said. Former ambassador to Estonia George Kent, effectively fired on Day 1 of the second Trump term, observed larger-than-usual retirement classes. 'Under the second Trump administration, there's a concerted effort to make senior Foreign Service officers feel unwelcome, not give them onward assignments and to try to create the conditions in which they retire,' Kent told NPR. The State Department attributes some retirements to the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, stating that career ambassadors have been encouraged to seek other roles. However, former ambassador to Kazakhstan Daniel Rosenblum noted that very few recalled career ambassadors have found opportunities, with many heading toward retirement, including acting ambassador to Ukraine Julie Davis. Historically, about 70% of U.S. ambassadors were career diplomats, but more than 90% of Trump's appointees so far are political. The Foreign Service has lost 20-25% of its officers over the last 16 months, a decline Kent predicts will take a decade to recover, not counting institutional damage.
