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Rubio Orders State Department Back to Times New Roman, Citing Professionalism and DEIA Rollback

The move reverses a 2023 shift to Calibri made for accessibility.

Overview

  • An internal Dec. 9 cable directs all diplomatic posts to use Times New Roman, framing the change as restoring decorum, abolishing a DEIA program, and aligning with the President’s One Voice directive.
  • The order overturns Antony Blinken’s 2023 adoption of Calibri, which the department had justified as more accessible and consistent with Microsoft defaults.
  • Reporting notes research that sans‑serif fonts like Calibri can aid some readers with visual disabilities, underscoring an accessibility dispute at the heart of the reversal.
  • The decision is presented as part of the Trump administration’s wider effort to dismantle federal DEI and DEIA initiatives across government, education, and the private sector.
  • The memo criticizes the Calibri era as degrading official correspondence, resets the standard size to 14‑point, and follows nearly two decades of Times New Roman use before 2023.