By Sarah Holliday
The Washington Stand
In response to Donald Trump’s victory in last week’s presidential election, employees from the Biden-Harris State Department are focusing on “managing stress during change.” Reportedly, this has included therapy sessions hosted by the department’s Employee Consultation Services in the Bureau of Medical Services. A source shared with The Washington Free Beacon that the meeting was essentially a one-hour “cry session” over the election results.
An email promoting the meeting read: “Change is a constant in our lives, but it can often bring about stress and uncertainty. Join us for an insightful webinar where we delve into effective stress management techniques to help you navigate these challenging times. This session will provide tips and practical strategies for managing stress and maintaining your well-being.”
One U.S. official familiar with the sessions told the Beacon, “For four years, within the rank and file, there has been an over-emphasis on people’s feelings, often with a college campus-like fervor, rather than the work of advancing America’s interests.” According to this source, there’s a lot to fix once Trump takes the White House, and he expressed his hope that the most recent meeting was “the last gasp” of this emphasis on emotions within the department.
Notably, this is not the first instance of the department spending resources on its employees’ feelings. The Christian Post highlighted when the State Department offered therapy sessions for employees who were “distraught over a glitch that assigned incorrect pronouns to some staff in their email in 2023.” Allegedly, “for those whose pronouns were incorrectly assigned, the State Department’s Employee Consultation Service allowed employees ‘to speak to a professional counselor.’”
While the State Department has yet to release a statement on the recent therapy sessions, another official shared how he believes this reflects the fact that the department is “filled with partisan Democrats who are unwilling or unable to faithfully serve in the Trump administration.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s leadership has been a major force in pushing the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives of the Biden administration in the State Department. In light of this, some spokespeople for the upcoming Trump administration have stated their plan is to “immediately” terminate “all staff, offices, and initiatives” related to DEI.
In comments to The Washington Stand, both David Closson and Joseph Backholm from Family Research Council’s Center for Biblical Worldview weighed in on the underlying discussion prompted by these therapy sessions. “If you need a cry session because an election didn’t go the way you’d prefer, you probably lack the fortitude required to be an effective representative of the U.S. to the world,” Backholm pointed out. Closson added, “The purpose of the State Department is to further America’s interest abroad. Reports that employees are using department resources to cope with an election outcome suggest that there are fundamentally unserious people in charge.”
Alongside these realities, however, both suggested that there’s still a need to view the circumstances through a biblical worldview. Backholm put it this way: “Fragile people are also made in the image of God, so they deserve our compassion and our respect.” Closson felt similarly, noting that we’re “undoubtedly emotional beings.” But the consensus both experts offered is that being emotional doesn’t justify using those emotions as the basis of one’s decision-making. As Closson explained, “Just because you feel strongly about something doesn’t mean your perceptions are accurate. A story like this reminds us that emotions are part of who we are. And while they can tell us true things about ourselves being given to us by God, they don’t necessarily tell us what is objectively right and wrong.”
Backholm continued, “The issue here is not necessarily being led by emotions, but a lack of perspective. If you work for the U.S. State Department, you should be aware of people who have actual political problems like they do in Afghanistan, the Congo, or Armenia. It is a luxury to be disappointed by an election outcome and should be seen as such.” Backholm emphasized that “it’s okay to have a different preference, but the idea that you’re incapable of carrying on in life because of the result is an indictment on the individuals involved, not the candidate who was elected.”
Closson further observed that it’s “not entirely surprising to learn that folks are overcome with feelings of sadness related to Donald Trump’s victory last week. In every department, there are hundreds if not thousands of political appointees, and their careers and livelihoods will be affected by a new administration. But as Christians, we should have compassion and empathy for anyone that’s processing an unexpected outcome” while continuing to be examples of what it looks like to control our feelings.
“God gave us emotions,” Backholm concluded, “so it’s not wrong to feel them, honor them, and enjoy them. But emotions are unreliable, so we can’t let them be in charge. It’s hard to be a good leader once you decide your feelings are the governing authority in your life.”
Originally published at The Washington Stand!
