DDF Demands Investigation Into Reported Political Loyalty Test at State Department
October 26, 2026
Tying diplomats’ promotions to their voting records and political donations could violate the Hatch Act and the Foreign Service Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The State Department is reportedly basing Foreign Service officers’ promotions on how they voted and which candidates they donate to. Democracy Defenders Fund today asked the Office of Special Counsel and the State Department’s inspector general to investigate.
If substantiated, these practices would directly violate federal law, including the Hatch Act and Foreign Service Act. Democracy Defenders Fund is calling on the Office of Special Counsel and the State Department’s Office of Inspector General to launch a prompt, comprehensive, independent investigation into potential violations. The Hatch Act restricts the use of official authority to interfere with or influence federal employee’s political activity, while the Foreign Service Act requires personnel decisions, including promotions and assignments, regarding career Foreign Service members be merit-based.
“Allegations that high-level officials within the State Department have instituted a political litmus test for promotion in the Foreign Service are deeply unsettling,” the complaint states. “These alleged practices are the exact type of political patronage that Congress has attempted to weed out of the civil and foreign services, and would appear to be a clear violation of the Foreign Service Act’s prohibition on use of political affiliation in promotion decisions. These alleged practices also appear to be coercive attempts to shape ongoing political activity in violation of [Federal law] and the Hatch 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 Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), executive chair and co-founder of Democracy Defenders Fund. “Imposing an ideological loyalty test of this kind would fly in the face of the merit-based principles our Foreign Service was built on. Such a practice would almost certainly violate federal law.”
“The Hatch Act exists precisely to stop this exact abuse of power that would demand partisan fealty within the federal government,” said Virginia Canter, chief counsel and director of ethics and anti-corruption at Democracy Defenders Fund. “If the State Department is standing up a political litmus test for promotions, it would be an egregious violation of federal law that demands immediate accountability and a full investigation by the Office of Special Counsel.”
Read the full complaint here.
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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.
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