The State Department has reportedly reversed an order from Biden administration Secretary of State Antony Blinken on typeface, returning to Times New Roman.

In 2023, Blinken ordered the State Department to use 15-point sans serif Calibri in official paperwork, after the department had used 14-point serif Times New Roman since 2004, according to the New York Times. The change was made on the recommendation of the department's office of diversity and inclusion, which Trump administration Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since dismantled. 

The stated purpose of the shift was to improve accessibility for readers with disabilities, such as low vision and dyslexia, and people who use assistive technologies, like screen readers.

On Tuesday, Rubio issued a directive to all diplomatic posts around the world, blaming “radical” diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs for what he said was a misguided and ineffective switch from Times New Roman to Calibri, according to an “Action Request” memo obtained by The Times.

Rubio said that switching back to using Times New Roman would “restore decorum and professionalism to the department’s written work.” Calibri is “informal” when compared to serif typefaces like Times New Roman, according to the order, and “clashes” with the department’s official letterhead.

A State Department official confirmed the memo's authenticity to The Times.

Rubio’s directive rejected the Biden administration's grounds for the switch. He said the change “was not among the department’s most illegal, immoral, radical or wasteful instances of D.E.I.A.” Rubio called the shift a failure by its own standards, saying that “accessibility-based document remediation cases” at the department had not declined.

“Switching to Calibri achieved nothing except the degradation of the department’s official correspondence,” Rubio said.

Serif typefaces are “generally perceived to connote tradition, formality and ceremony,” Rubio’s order said, adding that they were used by the White House, Supreme Court, and other state and federal government entities.