Marco Rubio’s State Department has turned to a high school dropout with ties to Donald Trump Jr. to help staff the country’s diplomatic corps.
Andrew Crapuchettes, a 49-year-old conservative fundraiser with no education beyond a Christian nationalist Pastor Doug Wilson-affiliated private Christian college, was recruited by the State Department to help fill its depleted Foreign Service ranks.
Bloomberg reported that Crapuchettes was messaged by a State Department spokesperson on LinkedIn, who praised his Idaho firm, RedBalloon, which headhunts conservative employees. The employee encouraged him to bid for a contract to replace more than 600 Foreign Service workers in the early days of DOGE. Crapuchettes bid, and won the contract.
“We’re focused on merit, hard work, patriotism, and not the latest political correctness, whatever that is, because that shifts,” Crapuchettes told Bloomberg.
Formed in 1924, the traditionally nonpartisan Foreign Service is responsible for carrying out U.S. foreign policy around the world through its diplomats.
To join its ranks is to undergo one of the most competitive selection processes in the federal government, including rigorous entry exams with final hire rates as low as 1 percent—until now. This year, the secretary of state overhauled the exams to refocus on “America First” foreign policy.
And with that, Crapuchettes is now tasked with helping Rubio reshape the storied institution, aided by a nearly $1 million contract for MilitaryHire, a subsidiary of RedBalloon that not-so-surprisingly counts Donald Trump Jr. among its investors. (The eldest Trump son also appeared alongside Crapuchettes in a promotional video for RedBalloon in 2023, and reportedly offered an autographed copy of his book as an incentive for people to create a RedBalloon account).
A spokesperson for the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Crapuchettes founded his company after he was fired as CEO of his previous employer over his “conservative and Christian views,” he told Bloomberg. His LinkedIn profile says his previous position was CEO of EMSI, a labor market analytics firm based in Moscow, Idaho.
He also reportedly funds a political action committee, Liberty PAC, that says it aims to sway “the tide of mainstream American culture toward a more conservative future.”
These days, Crapuchettes can—and has—proudly invited Christians to apply for the Foreign Service, and he serves as an elder at Pastor Doug Wilson’s Christ Church in Moscow. Wilson, who is known for his hardline misogynistic views, is also Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s pastor.
Donald Trump’s administration has made no secret of its affiliation with Wilson, whose stated goal is to transform the United States into a Christian theocracy. Earlier this year, Hegseth went so far as to invite Wilson to speak at the Pentagon earlier this year, despite his extreme views.
“Women are the kind of people that people come out of,” Wilson has said. “It doesn’t take any talent to simply reproduce biologically.” Wilson also has no females in leadership roles in his church “because the Bible says not to.”
It’s not clear whether Crapuchettes believes that misogynistic logic should extend to the Foreign Service. He did not respond to an inquiry from The Daily Beast.
