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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio officially ordered the U.S. State Department to revert to using the Times New Roman font instead of Calibri, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
The outlet cited official documents in which Rubio directed State Department posts worldwide to halt the use of the Calibri typeface that the previous Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, made standard as part of a diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) initiative.
Rubio, who has sought to eliminate DEIA elements within the department, wrote in the memo, "To restore decorum and professionalism to the Department’s written work products and abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program, the Department is returning to Times New Roman as its standard typeface."
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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the State Department to switch from Calibri font back to Times New Roman. (Getty Images)
Blinken ordered the switch in 2023, replacing Times New Roman, which had been the official font of the department for 20 years. Before that, Courier New was the typeface until 2004.
As The Times reported, "The change was meant to improve accessibility for readers with disabilities, such as low vision and dyslexia, and people who use assistive technologies, such as screen readers."
The Biden administration's switch had been recommended by the department’s office of diversity and inclusion, an office that Rubio abolished this year as part of the Trump administration’s push to dismantle DEI programs throughout the federal government.
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Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his department adopt the use of the Calibri font for official papers in 2023 as part of an accessibility initiative. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
Rubio’s memo, which had the subject line, "Return to Tradition: Times New Roman 14-Point Font Required for All Department Paper," argued that "Switching to Calibri achieved nothing except the degradation of the department’s official correspondence."
He added that it was a "wasteful" diversity move that failed to meet its goal of being more accessible.
The Times reported, "But Mr. Rubio called it a failure by its own standards, saying that ‘accessibility-based document remediation cases’ at the department had not declined."
The memo also said Times New Roman and other serif typefaces are "generally perceived to connote tradition, formality and ceremony." It noted that other government departments use serif fonts in their communications and argued that Calibri is "informal" and "clashes" with the State Department’s letterhead.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio's order to restore Times New Roman at the department is in keeping with Trump's efforts to eliminate DEI and accessibility initiatives throughout the federal government. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
When asked for comment, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "This formatting standard aligns with the President’s One Voice for America’s Foreign Relations directive, underscoring the Department’s responsibility to present a unified, professional voice in all communications."
The spokesperson said the change will go into effect on Wednesday, Dec. 10.
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They added, "Whether for internal memoranda, papers prepared for principals, or documents shared externally, consistent formatting strengthens credibility and supports a unified Department identity."
