Diplomacy in decline

Hundreds of diplomats have been forced to retire or were laid off in the Trump administration

Kelly Adams-Smith dedicated her life to the U.S. Foreign Service, serving her country for almost three decades as a diplomat.

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“I came in with my husband. We were a tandem couple. We met in graduate school, took the exams together, entered together and served together for 28 years,” Adams-Smith said. “We also left the Foreign Service on the same day.”

She was nominated as ambassador to Moldova in 2024 — a milestone in her career — where she expected to draw on the diplomatic experience she had gained across Europe, along with her training in economics and fluency in multiple languages, including Russian.