Annabel Chung CM ’27 was selected last fall for the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Internship Program (USFSIP), securing internship placements for the summers of 2025 and 2026. But on March 14, she and her fellow acceptees were informed via email that their internships had been rescinded.
“In accordance with the President’s Executive Order entitled Hiring Freeze and the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management’s joint Memorandum entitled Federal Civilian Hiring Freeze Guidance effective January 20, 2025, the Department hereby rescinds your final offer to participate in the U.S. Foreign Service Internship Program,” the letter reads.
Trump’s order instituted an immediate hiring freeze across the federal civilian workforce, prohibiting the filling of vacant positions and the creation of new ones, with exceptions for military personnel and roles in immigration enforcement, national security and public safety.
The order states that it aims to “improve public services and the delivery of these services” and that the government will continue to “meet the highest priority needs, maintain essential services, and protect national security, homeland security, and public safety.”
Chung said that she was shocked by the letter, saying it was “such sudden news.” She and forty other selectees — known as Cohort 12 — were left in the dark for months after the executive order was passed, relying on rumors from current employees at the Department of State for information and receiving no word from their coordinators.
“I feel like the coordinators could have done a better job in guiding us,” Chung said. “We really did not get any information about what was happening throughout this journey.”
Chung has now begun applying to other opportunities. While she praised Claremont McKenna College’s Scholar Communities office for providing her guidance and flexibility in finding new internships for the subsequent summers, she expressed frustration that many deadlines had already passed.
“I just wish that they let us know that this was going to happen so that we could start applying to other internships,” Chung said. “They did not give us any heads up.”
Upon hearing the news that the previous cohort’s second summer had been secured, Chung said she wished the Department of State could have secured Cohort 12’s summers as well.
“I knew about this program two years ago and was preparing so hard for it, networking with others,” Chung said. “I worked so hard.”
Cohort 12 began sharing their stories on LinkedIn and asking for information about other internships or experiences with deadlines that have not yet passed.
“I remain committed to pursuing a career in diplomacy and am actively seeking new opportunities,” Chung wrote in a post on LinkedIn. “Although my USFSIP opportunity has been rescinded, I’m excited to see where this journey takes me next.”
One of Chung’s fellow cohort members and junior at Grinnell College, Isabella Flynn-Nesbeth, reflected in a similar post on LinkedIn about the importance of merit and needs-based opportunities like USFSIP.
“After my second cycle applying, I was excited to finally participate in my dream program, working [at] the State Department and working towards my future career as an American diplomat,” Flynn-Nesbeth wrote in the post. “As a low-income college student, paid internships have provided support for my education and an opportunity to learn and work with incredible federal professionals.”
In an email to TSL, CMC Professor of Government and International Relations Jennifer Taw commented on how the rescinding of these opportunities will impact the future training and hiring of diplomats.
“Qualified, committed people are being turned away and will find other ways to serve their communities and that will be a loss for State and for U.S. diplomacy,” Taw said. “[Alongside interns,] it’s thousands of people, many of whom gave years, if not decades, of their lives to building expertise, knowledge, credentials, networks, and experience and who now have been unceremoniously thrown out. If losing interns is a big deal, losing THESE people is huge.”
She also commented on the larger trend within U.S. foreign policy under the current administration.
“It says something that a job that used to be considered secure and respected suddenly no longer is, that service and experience are not appreciated but instead smeared, that loyalty to an individual counts for more than loyalty to the country or constitution, and that the U.S. under this administration sees no value in diplomacy and soft power,” Taw said.
Chung, however, said she was not sure how faithful the order is to fulfilling its alleged purpose of improving public services for Americans and making the government more efficient.
“I feel like [with] the presidential executive order, they’re saying it’s for our economy or for the people,” Chung said. “But [by] canceling internships or scholarships or experiences, you’re killing the dreams of the future.”
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