We're there for America.

So what happens when all of a sudden I can no longer provide that input

without fear of adverse ramifications, retribution, recrimination, or retaliation?

It's going to close people down.

People are going to start worrying more about themselves than they are about the service

to the country that they've sworn to do.

It's the Lawfare Podcast.

I'm Tyler McBrion, Managing Editor of Lawfare, with John Dinkleman, President of the American

Foreign Service Association.

The Foreign Service is a canary in the coal mine for other rank-in-person systems in the U.S. government,

namely the U.S. military.

And as we see the erosion in the confidence that we have in our duly appointed, commissioned officers of our government

to fulfill the legal requirements of their positions, it is potentially increasingly

adverse in its effects on our government. Today we're talking about the association's latest report

entitled At the Breaking Point, the state of the U.S. Foreign Service in 2025. So, John, the American Foreign Service

Association just published a report in December called At the Breaking Point, the state of the

U.S. Foreign Service in 2025. So first, I'm curious what motivated this report. Is this something

that the association normally does? Or was this a new endeavor? And if so,

why did you undertake such an in-depth survey of the Foreign Service? Well, thanks for that question,

because that's really the basis of why we're here, in that the federal government decided

to not conduct its annual survey

of workplace conditions, of employee satisfaction, of what have you.

...