Michelle Kellerman

Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department.

Under a Biden administration role, State Department promotion boards had to consider a staffer's commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggott calls that an ideological litmus test that penalized competent and deserving government officials.

And he says the Trump administration rewards excellence.

According to a cable seen by NPR, close to 300 State Department employees will be receiving pay increases and retroactive promotions, having been denied that under the Biden-era DEI rules.

Rubio State Department replaced DEI with Fidelity in its list of what to consider for promotions.

Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department.

Wrapping up his two-day visit to Canada, Secretary Rubio brushed off reports that the U.K.

is withholding certain intelligence from the U.S.

because of concerns about deadly strikes on alleged drug boats from Venezuela.

Rubio says the U.S.

has plenty of military assets in the region that can collect intelligence for what he calls a counter-narcotics campaign, and he says this issue never came up during his meetings with other G7 foreign ministers.

Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department.

Ahmed al-Sharah once set up an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, and last year he led the insurgents who toppled Bashar al-Assad.

Now he's promising to work with the U.S.

on counterterrorism, joining the International Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and Trump's Treasury Department is suspending U.S.

sanctions.

President Trump says you have to be tough in the Middle East, and he likes al-Sharah.

I really do.

I think this leader can do it.