Republican Senator Ted Budd has demanded that the State Department reverse its rule that workers adopt preferred pronouns.

Budd stated that Congress ‘never authorised’ the department to impose speech restrictions on workers.
Sen. Ted Budd, R-North Carolina, asks that the US State Department reverse its rule that workers use pronouns and honorifics in the workplace.

The department issued new guidelines in August titled “Updated Department Guidance Regarding Transgender Employees in the Workplace,” which require all employees and applicants to be addressed “by the name, pronouns, and honorific (Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, Mx., etc.) that they themselves use in everyday interactions, and as they choose to communicate to their supervisor/manager and colleagues.”

“Continued intentional use of an incorrect name, pronoun, and/or honorific – also known as misgendering – could, depending on its severity and pervasiveness, contribute to a hostile work environment allegation, and constitute misconduct subject to disciplinary action, up to and including separation or removal,” according to the guidance.
Budd claimed in the letter that Congress “never authorized” the department to “impose such restrictions on employee speech,” and that several senators with religious convictions have expressed concern “stating that they cannot comply with this Guidance without violating their religious beliefs.”

Budd wants State Department Secretary Antony Blinken to respond by November 3 with information about the legal authority behind the guidance, potential exceptions based on religious or non-religious grounds, the process for employees to request exceptions, efforts made to inform employees about this process, and measures to prevent retaliation or mistreatment.

udd asked the department to explain how this guideline conforms with the First Amendment if there are no exclusions, religious or non-religious. And he wants to know everything about the disciplinary process for alleged violations, as well as the standards used to judge the severity of violations.

“As Secretary Blinken has stated, ‘when religious liberty is threatened,’ ‘other freedoms are also threatened.’ “By threatening State Department employees with termination simply for seeking to live according to their beliefs, this guidance jeopardizes the freedom of religion and speech – including the freedom not to speak – of all State Department employees,” Budd said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “I call on Secretary Blinken to publicly and immediately rescind this guidance so that State Department employees can do their vital work in this time of crisis without being in fear of losing their job.”

Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Tom Cotton, R-Ark., James Lankford, R-Okla., Josh Hawley, R-Mo., JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Roger Marshall, R-Kan all signed the letter.