Rubio Directs State Department to Revert to Times New Roman

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed the U.S. State Department to revert to using Times New Roman as the standard font for official diplomatic correspondence, effective Wednesday, reversing a change made under the previous administration that adopted the sans-serif Calibri typeface.

The order, outlined in a cable sent Tuesday to all U.S. embassies and consulates, aims to restore what Rubio described as the professionalism and formality befitting government documents. "Typography shapes how official documents are perceived in terms of cohesion, professionalism and formality," Rubio stated in the cable. He criticized the 2023 shift to Calibri as a misguided product of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives, claiming it failed to improve accessibility for people with disabilities and instead introduced confusion and waste. The cable asserted that the change cost the department $145,000, though it provided no supporting evidence.

Under former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the department adopted 14-point Calibri in January 2023 following recommendations from diversity and disability advocacy groups. Officials at the time argued that the font's cleaner,...