“Lots to unf*ck,” was how an anonymous State Department employee described the situation in his workplace to the Washington Free Beacon shortly after President Donald J. Trump resoundingly won reelection earlier this month. While the source’s comment may be generally true of the Biden-Harris administration’s shambolic approach to foreign affairs, the employee was only one of several who came forward to share knowledge of internal therapy sessions apparently offered to colleagues who feel distressed by the election results.

Operated by the State Department’s Employee Consultation Services, which is housed within the cavernous foreign affairs bureaucracy’s Bureau of Medical Services, the sessions were to consist of “an insightful webinar where we delve into effective stress management techniques to help you navigate these challenging times,” according to an internal e-mail shared with the Beacon. Trump was not specifically named, and but there is little question about what “these challenging times” are supposed to be.

The first session was scheduled for the morning of Friday, Nov. 8, less than 72 hours after the once and future president’s victory, with at least one further session planned five days later. “This session will provide tips and practical strategies for managing stress and maintaining your well being,” the e-mail read. All these mental health services are being promised to diplomats with apparent problems with the normal functioning of a democracy that they are sworn to “support and defend,” and to which their oath of office requires them to “bear true faith and allegiance.”

The general session’s therapeutic purpose seems to have trickled down into various departments at State. On Nov. 8, the same day as the general meeting, the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs reportedly held its own group discussion, led by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf and Acting Undersecretary of State for Management John Bass, both senior diplomats who have served for decades, including stints as ambassadors to foreign countries in troubled parts of the world. According to a Beacon source who attended the Near Eastern Affairs meeting, it quickly degenerated into a “cry session,” in which participating employees got emotional and specifically mentioned President Trump and his victory as a source of “difficulty” and encouraged private discussion of how to react.

In light of reports that dissident national security employees have opposed recent Biden administration support for Israel, one can only wonder if those private discussions are intended to organize resistance to executive branch policies under a new Trump administration.

Reports of federal civil servants who are psychologically troubled by our republic’s routine electoral process quickly reached congressional ears. On Nov. 19, Rep. Darryl Issa (R-Calif.) wrote a pointed letter to outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressing concern “that the Department is catering to federal employees who are personally devastated by the normal functioning of American democracy through the provision of government-funded mental health counseling because Kamala Harris was not elected President of the United States.”

Issa found it “disturbing that ostensibly nonpartisan government officials would suffer a personal meltdown over the results of a free and fair election” and called the State Department’s accommodation of such behavior “unacceptable.” He expressed further outrage that therapy eventuated by perceived political partisanship is apparently subsidized by taxpayer dollars and wondered whether such aggrieved employees would fail “to implement the lawful policy priorities that the American people elected President Trump to pursue and implement.”

Those who are emotionally or psychologically unable to do so, Issa suggested, “should resign and seek a political appointment in the next Democratic administration.” In conclusion, the congressman asked Blinken to describe the frequency and content of the sessions, their cost, whether they are offered at State’s missions abroad, and if State had previously held such sessions.

The answer to Issa’s last question is an embarrassing “Yes.” Last year, Employee Consultation Services held similar therapy sessions for State Department staffers who felt “triggered” by a communications glitch that accidentally caused many of them to be assigned the wrong pronouns in State’s email system. The grief was widespread enough that State’s Chief Information Officer Kelly E. Fletcher wrote a groveling public apology to anyone who objected to being misgendered as they went about their work on counterterrorism, nuclear issues, alliance relationships, and other vital foreign policy matters.

The pronoun issue last year is consistent with the goals of the State Department’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, which Blinken created in February 2021. Its sole stated purpose is “to advance national security by building a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible State Department.” How incorporating DEI principles, which many other American institutions are now abandoning as counterproductive in much more commonplace pursuits, would help the State Department do its vital work has not been explained.

No matter how many counseling sessions were held at the State Department or why, the incoming administration should take a much harder line than merely suggesting officials incapable of working in a professional and nonpartisan manner might reconsider their career paths. The new policy should be clear: Those who are too unwell, immature, or unprofessional to carry out their duties have no business serving in any government office, let alone those involving foreign affairs and national security. They should be fired for violating their oaths of office at the earliest opportunity.