119-s2204

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2204 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2204

 To increase transparency, fairness, and protections for diplomatic 
 personnel affected by reductions in force, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 June 28, 2025

 Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Mr. Coons, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Kaine, Mr. 
Merkley, Mr. Booker, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Duckworth, and Ms. 
Rosen) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 
 to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To increase transparency, fairness, and protections for diplomatic 
 personnel affected by reductions in force, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting America's Diplomatic 
Workforce Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVED TRANSPARENCY AND JUSTIFICATIONS FOR SIGNIFICANT 
 REDUCTIONS IN FORCE.

    (a) Prohibition.--Except as provided in subsection

    (b) , during any 
6-month period, a covered agency may not separate more than 50 
employees from service pursuant to 1 or more reductions in force.

    (b) Requirements.--A covered agency may separate more than 50 
employees from service pursuant to 1 or more reductions in force during 
a 6-month period only if, before carrying out the reduction in force 
that would cause the covered agency to violate subsection

    (a) , the 
covered agency--

    (1) not later than 20 days before submitting a notice of 
 the reduction in force to affected employees, submits to the 
 appropriate congressional committees of jurisdiction a detailed 
 explanation of the reduction in force that includes--
        (A) the steps the covered agency has taken to 
 exhaust all other options before carrying out the 
 proposed reduction in force, including whether the 
 covered agency considered reassigning the employees to 
 an equivalent position;
        (B) the justification for the reduction in force;
            (C) an assessment of whether the proposed reduction 
 in force will negatively impact the covered agency's 
 ability to carry out its mission and obligations 
 required by statute;
            (D) an assessment of how the proposed reduction in 
 force will affect United States diplomatic presence and 
 engagement and the United States ability to compete 
 with adversaries; and
        (E) with respect to employees in the civil service, 
 information about how the covered agency has complied 
 with--
            (i) subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 5, 
 United States Code; and
            (ii) part 351 of title 5, Code of Federal 
 Regulations (or any successor regulation); and

    (2) briefs the appropriate congressional committees of 
 jurisdiction on the justification for the reduction in force 
 and the other criteria described in paragraph

    (1) .

SEC. 3. FOREIGN SERVICE REDUCTION IN FORCE PROCEDURES.

    (a) In General.--

Section 611 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 
U.S.C. 4010a) is amended--

    (1) by amending subsection

    (a) to read as follows:
 ``

    (a) Authorization.--The Secretary may conduct reductions in force 
for the separation of members of the Service holding a career or career 
candidate appointment under chapter 3 of this Act for reasons such as 
reorganization or shortage of funds.'';

    (2) by redesignating subsections

    (b) and
            (c) as subsections

    (e) and

    (f) , respectively;

    (3) by inserting after subsection

    (a) the following new 
 subsections:
 ``

    (b) Competitive Area.--The competitive area for a reduction in 
force shall be worldwide, with employees of the same rank and cone or 
specialist competing against each other for retention.
 ``
            (c) Criteria.--Reduction in force procedures shall be designed to 
ensure that determinations are based primarily on performance as 
determined by previous selection board rankings. Tenure of employment, 
language capabilities, and military preference, subject to 

section 3501

    (a)

    (3) of title 5, United States Code, shall also be considered.
 ``
            (d) Required Notice.--Absent unforeseen circumstances, employees 
shall be given 120 days' advance notice of separation. In no case shall 
employees be given less than 60 days' advance notice.
 ``

    (e) Protections.--Foreign Service employees shall be afforded the 
same protections afforded to career members of the civil service under 

section 3503 of title 5, United States Code, in the event of a transfer 
of function.''; and

    (4) in subsection

    (g) , as redesignated by paragraph

    (2) , by 
 striking the second sentence and inserting the following: ``The 
 Foreign Service Grievances Board shall have the same authority 
 as the Merit Systems Protection Board to adjudicate reduction 
 in force grievances.''.

    (b) Management Rights.--

Section 1005

    (a)

    (3) of the Foreign Service 
Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4105

    (a)

    (3) ) is amended by striking ``, and to 
prescribe regulations for the separation of employees pursuant to such 
reductions in force conducted under 

section 611''.

SEC. 4. REDUCTION IN FORCE NOTICE PERIOD.

 The notice period for a reduction in force pursuant to 

section 3502 
of title 5, United States Code, at a covered agency shall be 60 days.

SEC. 5. FOREIGN AFFAIRS MANUAL CHANGES.

 

Section 5318 of the Department of State Authorization Act of 2021 
(22 U.S.C. 2658a) is amended--

    (1) in subsection
            (c) (1) , by striking ``5 years'' and 
 inserting ``8 years''; and

    (2) adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (d) Notice; Consultation; Briefing.--Before effectuating any 
changes in the Foreign Affairs Manual, the Secretary of State shall--
 ``

    (1) provide notice to, and consult with, the appropriate 
 congressional committees in writing, not later than 30 days 
 before such changes are scheduled to take effect; and
 ``

    (2) provide a briefing to the appropriate congressional 
 committees regarding the proposed changes.''.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
 ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
 Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign 
 Affairs of the House of Representatives.

    (2) Covered agency.--The term ``covered agency'' means--
        (A) the Department of State;
        (B) the United States Agency for International 
 Development;
            (C) the Millennium Challenge Corporation;
            (D) the United States International Development 
 Finance Corporation;
        (E) the Peace Corps;
        (F) the United States Trade and Development Agency; 
 and
        (G) the United States Agency for Global Media and 
 its networks.
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