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The State Department returned covered diplomatic correspondence to Times New Roman on December 10, 2025. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the change on December 9, describing Times New Roman as more formal and professional and linking the reversal to his criticism of a prior DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility) initiative. The directive is an internal State Department formatting rule, not a law or a government-wide federal font mandate.
What changed, and when did it take effect?
Rubio’s December 9, 2025 cable directed personnel to stop using Calibri in the diplomatic correspondence covered by the order. The Times New Roman requirement took effect the next day, Wednesday, December 10, and department templates were to be updated.
The order concerns correspondence and related work products inside the State Department. It does not establish a typography rule for every federal agency, private organization or document produced by the U.S. government.
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Why is the State Department switching back to Times New Roman?
Rubio gave two connected reasons:
- Formality and professionalism: He wrote that “Typography shapes how official documents are perceived in terms of cohesion, professionalism and formality.”
- Reversal of a DEIA initiative: The cable said the department was returning to Times New Roman “to restore decorum and professionalism to the Department’s written work products and abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program.”
A State Department explanation reported by ABC News said the standard was intended to look more formal and professional and to align with President Donald Trump’s “One Voice for America’s Foreign Relations” directive, which calls for a unified presentation of U.S. foreign-policy communications.
Did Rubio call Calibri a “DEI font”?
Not precisely. Rubio’s wording characterized the program behind the Calibri change as a “wasteful DEIA program”; he did not describe Calibri itself as a DEI font. Calibri is a sans-serif typeface, while Times New Roman is a serif typeface. The political argument was about the department’s accessibility and inclusion policy, as well as the visual tone of official writing, rather than a technical classification of the typeface.
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Was Calibri adopted for accessibility?
The Associated Press reported that the 2023 switch to Calibri had been presented as an effort to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. Rubio’s 2025 cable said that goal had not been achieved. The available reporting does not include a controlled readability or disability-access study proving that either typeface is universally more accessible, so claims that one font is categorically better for disabled readers should be treated cautiously.
The cable also asserted that the Calibri change cost $145,000. That is an attributed figure from the State Department cable as reported by AP; AP noted that the cable supplied no evidence independently verifying the expenditure.
What font does the State Department require now?
For the diplomatic correspondence covered by the December 2025 order, the required standard is Times New Roman. The department’s guidance has never been one universal setting for every document, however. Different manual chapters and document types have used different specifications.
| Date and document context | Typeface and size | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| February 2, 2023: written materials prepared for principal officers | Calibri, 15 pitch | A dated manual standard associated with the accessibility-focused change. |
| June 18, 2024: memoranda prepared for Department principal officers | Times New Roman, 14 pitch | Another manual chapter already specified Times New Roman for this document type. |
| December 10, 2025: diplomatic correspondence covered by Rubio’s cable | Times New Roman | The immediate reversal from Calibri for the covered correspondence. |
| Treaty-affairs and presidential-appointment materials | Courier New, 12 point | An exception retained in the cited guidance and the 2025 reporting. |
“Pitch” is the terminology used in the department’s manual entries; it should not be silently treated as proof that every document used the same point-size convention. Staff should follow the template and manual chapter applicable to the specific document.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is this a real policy change or culture-war symbolism?
It is a real administrative change: a secretary’s cable set a new default for covered correspondence and required templates to be revised. Its practical effect is straightforward—documents that previously followed the Calibri standard should use Times New Roman instead, except where a separate rule applies.
The symbolism is also part of the policy’s stated purpose. Rubio explicitly framed the change as restoring “decorum” and ending what he called a DEIA program, while the department tied the presentation to a unified foreign-policy voice. Whether readers see that as institutional professionalism or political signaling is a judgment; the documented operational change is the font standard itself.
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How Times New Roman and Calibri differ in this policy
| Comparison | Times New Roman | Calibri |
|---|---|---|
| Visual construction | Serif typeface, with finishing strokes on letterforms | Sans-serif typeface, without those strokes |
| Role in the 2025 directive | Restored standard for covered diplomatic correspondence | Displaced standard for that correspondence |
| Stated institutional rationale | More formal, professional and cohesive, according to Rubio and the department’s explanation | Previously associated with an accessibility-focused change |
| Accessibility evidence in the cited reporting | No controlled study establishing universal superiority | No controlled study establishing universal superiority |
| Document compatibility | Must be used in updated templates where the new correspondence rule applies | May still appear in records or document types governed by another instruction, but is no longer the default for the covered correspondence |
What the change does—and does not—mean
- It applies to specified State Department correspondence, beginning December 10, 2025.
- It does not repeal a statute or impose a font on the entire federal government.
- It does not eliminate document-specific exceptions such as Courier New 12 for treaty and presidential-appointment materials.
- It does not establish, on the evidence reported, that Times New Roman is inherently more accessible than Calibri.
- It does show that State Department font standards can change through internal cables and manual updates, and that the applicable document category matters.
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