A mix of mockery and eye-rolling spread across social media Friday as Marco Rubio's State Department quietly issued a formal dress code for diplomats and staff for the first time in the agency's history.
The new "business formal" standard was added in recent days to the Foreign Affairs Manual, the department's central policy bible, requiring diplomats to dress in polished professional attire for any official engagement with foreign counterparts, Fox News reported.
"Representing the United States of America is an honor — and this new policy ensures our diplomats project credibility, respect, and the dignity of the nation we serve," Assistant Secretary Dylan Johnson wrote on X. Fox News Digital first reported the change.
The update follows a series of sweeping changes to how the State Department hires, promotes and evaluates its workforce, changes that have replaced diversity and inclusion with a new standard centered on "fidelity" to the chain of command.
Mid- and senior-level diplomats are now expected to demonstrate loyalty by "zealously executing U.S. government policy" and resolving any ambiguity in favor of leadership direction, according to internal documents.
Earlier this year, Rubio also reversed Biden-era font usage at the department, a change that became a symbol of the administration's obsession with cultural recalibration over substantive diplomacy.
The moves come as the department plans to reduce staffing and consolidate offices, part of a broader effort to reshape the foreign service in Trump's image.
Observers were quick to mock the announcement on social media. "Does this mean Eric and Kash can't wear their Star Trek uniforms when King Charles comes to dine?" quipped Russell Seitz, emeritus fellow in the Center for International Affairs and Department of Physics at Harvard University.
Ron Filipkowski, editor in chief of the progressive news outlet Meidas Touch, was more cutting: "I didn't realize we still had diplomats. What do they do?"
Robert Manning, distinguished fellow with the Strategic Foresight Hub and the China Program at the Stimson Center programs, asked simply: "Does it matter how a reckless, predatory rogue state dresses?"
Former U.S. Ambassador Luis Moreno offered a more pointed reality check and jabbed Johnson.
"This DOGE alum never served a day in a high threat post. Imagine having to leave the embassy for a meeting in 120 degree weather and wearing full body armor and helmet. That's the reality many FSO’s face on a daily basis.