Is this the foreign service officers or USCIS? iirc foreign service officers have pretty wide latitude on visa approval (whose really making sure they’re checking deeply?) and have 100 other more important factors to evaluate so if that’s the case; will this really amount to many denials?

Except they're under pressure to not exercise such wide latitude. A few months ago, many who had already passed the exam and were just awaiting placement found out they would have to retake the exam, a different one more to the liking of the current administration:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46156979

98% of current foreign service officers who responded to a survey said morale is lower, plus the administration is laying off 1300 of them:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/us/politics/state-departm...