The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, decided to tighten control over the State Department and warned senior officials that unethical conduct could result in dismissal, regardless of the involved individuals’ political connections.
According to four people familiar with the matter, Rubio also ordered aides to respect the limits of their responsibilities and avoid making decisions or promoting political agendas without proper coordination with the department’s leadership.
The message was conveyed at a meeting held last week, before the Republican Party’s defeats in the midterm elections on Tuesday (the 3rd).
The move comes at a time when prominent party figures are trying to distance themselves from a Donald Trump administration that is increasingly unpopular, while preparations for the 2028 presidential race begin.
Rubio Tightens Scrutiny Following Allegations Against Ambassador
The meeting took place after the resignation of the American ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, in mid-October.
The diplomat’s departure drew attention after reports raised suspicions that she had offered access to officials of the Trump administration in exchange for money, gifts and favors.
Guilfoyle characterized the information as false and stated, in a post on social media, that she would defend her reputation.
In the meeting, which included many of the roughly 24 deputy secretaries of state, Rubio stated that unethical behavior would lead to dismissal, regardless of each employee’s political influence or personal relationships, according to one source.
The secretary also expressed dissatisfaction with team members who were allegedly making decisions or pursuing policy initiatives without coordination.
According to the sources, he made it clear that important decisions require his approval or that of the Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau.
The details of the meeting, reported by people who spoke on condition of anonymity, had not been disclosed previously.
The State Department declined to comment on the meeting.
Exit of Assistant Expands Internal Tensions
Shortly after the meeting, Jeremy Lewin, head of policy at the State Department, left his post.
According to three sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters, Lewin had been pressured to leave, partly due to concerns that he was acting on matters outside his remit, without the necessary coordination.
Details of these concerns remain unclear.
None of the sources suggested that Lewin’s departure was related to episodes of ethical misconduct.
Lewin joined the administration as part of the Government Efficiency Department, an initiative associated with Elon Musk, and helped dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), responsible for overseeing American foreign aid.
Rubio and other members of the State Department leadership were frustrated with Lewin’s habit of “acting on his own” and contradicting “certain secretary’s guidelines,” one source said, without giving specific examples.
Appointed to the senior post a little more than two months earlier, Lewin had announced on social media in October that he would leave the government to return to the private sector.
Asked about the matter, a State Department official said, “It was mutually decided that it was time for Lewin to move on.”
In a statement to Reuters, Lewin denied that he had been fired and said that his departure had been planned for several weeks.
“The suggestion that I was fired is false. As planned for weeks with the Secretary and his team, after staying longer than expected to complete important projects, I resigned from my post before the midterm elections to take a private-sector role and to plan my wedding,” he stated.
“This had nothing to do with any meeting or policy related to the department’s management.”
Rubio’s dissatisfactions also involved the number of international trips taken by politically appointed officials, considered excessive.
According to another source, the secretary began requiring that his office pre-approve all such trips in advance.
Republicans Begin to Target the 2028 Presidential Election
The GOP’s defeat in the midterm elections opened a new phase of political maneuvering in the United States.
With Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the 2028 presidential race began to gain momentum among potential Republican candidates.
Vice President JD Vance and Republican Senator Ted Cruz published analyses of the election results on the X social network. Many strategists interpreted the statements as signals of the political positions the two may advocate in the next presidential race.
Rubio, for his part, has sought to downplay reports that he is considering a bid for the White House, but has not publicly ruled out the possibility.
If he decides to run, his tenure leading the State Department could become one of the campaign’s themes.
The Trump administration has faced recurring accusations of conflicts of interest. Democrats have already announced their intention to investigate relationships between Trump’s aides, companies, and foreign authorities when they take control of Congress in January.
The U.S. government denies the conflict-of-interest allegations.
State Department Accumulates Departures and Allegations
Shortly after Guilfoyle’s departure from the administration in October, Rubio sent a memo to State Department employees reminding diplomats of the need to “avoid conflicts of interest,” according to various media outlets.
Subsequently, the secretary denied that the document had been motivated by the ambassador’s departure.
Rubio told journalists that he had intended to issue the guidance weeks earlier, but the delivery had been delayed for bureaucratic reasons.
As with other areas of the Trump administration, the State Department has recently seen departures of senior officials.
In October, the U.S. Special Representative for Global Partnerships, Paolo Zampolli, was dismissed after Politico published an exchange of emails between him and Christopher Landau.
In the messages, Landau accused Zampolli of acting outside his area of responsibility, related to cultural diplomacy, contrary to the deputy secretary’s guidance.
Reuters could not determine exactly which issues were involved in the disagreements.
After leaving the post, Zampolli wrote on X that special envoy appointments have a one-year term and that Trump had extended his tenure by more than six months.
