For Immediate Release
August 26, 2025
Contact: Communications Director Nikki Gamer | Cell #: (978) 884-0003 | gamer@afsa.org

Washington, D.C. – The American Foreign Service Association congratulates all the Department of State’s Foreign Service employees promoted in the 2025 cycle. Each promotion is a testament to their exceptional service and commitment to our nation’s diplomatic mission. The annual promotion lists recognize outstanding performance in the previous year and readiness to assume greater leadership in the future.

However, this year’s lists lay bare a stunning contradiction: According to AFSA’s estimates—gathered directly from affected members because the department refuses to release information — at least 10 of those promoted were among the 264 Foreign Service employees laid off on July 11, in what amounted to the largest single-day reduction-in-force in the department’s history.

That the department would simultaneously recognize individuals for exemplary service and eliminate their positions as no longer needed defies logic. Not only do these actions reflect a profound failure of leadership and planning, but they contradict the department’s own claims that the layoffs were performance-based. Together, these actions send a chilling message: In today’s State Department, even excellence cannot protect your career.

The Foreign Service, and the country it serves, deserves coherent leadership, not such chaos. AFSA again calls on the department to reverse the July 11 layoffs and to honor the agreed-upon frameworks for managing workforce reductions. Anything less jeopardizes the integrity of our diplomatic corps—and our national security.

The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) is the professional association and labor union of the men and women of the United States Foreign Service.