{ "id": "R45203", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "R", "number": "R45203", "active": true, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov, EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "summary": null, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R45203", "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "type": "CRS Report", "formats": [ { "sha1": "54b25436e8548b87272c8cd48bbc4c1048fa5b75", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45203/5", "filename": "files/2021-07-07_R45203_54b25436e8548b87272c8cd48bbc4c1048fa5b75.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2021-07-07_R45203_54b25436e8548b87272c8cd48bbc4c1048fa5b75.html" } ], "title": "State Department Personnel: Background and Selected Issues for the 117th Congress", "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "retrieved": "2021-08-02T04:03:22.903740", "date": "2021-07-07", "typeId": "R", "id": "R45203_5_2021-07-07", "active": true }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 581386, "date": "2018-05-18", "retrieved": "2018-05-23T22:11:34.599504", "title": "U.S. Department of State Personnel: Background and Selected Issues for Congress ", "summary": "Current Context and Recent Developments\nShortly after his confirmation as Secretary of State in April 2018, Secretary Mike Pompeo lifted the hiring freeze that former Secretary Rex Tillerson left in place for over a year. Guidance issued after Secretary Pompeo\u2019s action indicates that the department intends to increase Foreign and Civil Service personnel levels in a manner consistent with the language and funding Congress included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141). The Trump Administration has taken additional actions affecting Department of State personnel, including designing \u201ckeystone modernization projects\u201d within its Leadership and Modernization Impact Initiative. These projects seek to strengthen workforce readiness and enhance performance management and employee accountability, among other goals. The State Department is also prioritizing efforts to address long-standing concerns regarding the perceived lack of diversity in the Foreign Service. \nThe Trump Administration has moved more slowly than previous Administrations in transmitting nominations for senior Department of State positions to the Senate for advice and consent; meanwhile, the Senate has taken longer than it has in the past to provide advice and consent for many of those nominations that have been transmitted. \nSome Members of Congress and other observers have expressed varying levels of concern with some of these developments, with some arguing that the Trump Administration (especially under former Secretary Tillerson) had been purposefully attempting to weaken the Department of State and diminish its influence in developing and implementing U.S. foreign policy. Secretary Pompeo pledged that he will work to enable the Department of State to play a central role in implementing President Trump\u2019s agenda and protecting the national security of the United States, while empowering the department\u2019s personnel in their roles. \nThe Role of Congress in History and Today\nThe 115th Congress has demonstrated interest in applying the legislative branch\u2019s constitutional and statutory authorities to shape policies pertaining to Department of State personnel. Some congressional prerogatives date back to the 18th century: Congress established the Department of State and began prescribing salaries for personnel in 1789, while Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution provides the Senate the authority to provide advice and consent for presidential appointments of ambassadors and other public ministers and consuls. The role of Congress expanded more gradually elsewhere. The executive branch maintained almost exclusive authority in developing the administrative policies governing the U.S. diplomatic and consular services and their personnel until the mid-19th century, when Congress codified compensation levels for individuals appointed to certain diplomatic and consular positions. Congressional purview over this area has subsequently expanded considerably, as Congress merged the diplomatic and consular services into a Foreign Service with the passage of the Rogers Act of 1924 (P.L. 68-135) and later modernized and refined the Foreign Service\u2019s policies and procedures through the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-465). \nThe Department of State\u2019s Foreign Affairs Manual describes several categories of Foreign Service personnel at the Department of State. Many of these categories, or the authorities afforded to personnel employed within them, are provided through statute. In addition, the Department of State employed over 10,000 Civil Service (CS) employees as of December 2017, who work in 11 different job categories. Congress has long had a significant role in the administration of the Civil Service, whose framework is now defined in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-454), as amended. \nLooking Ahead\nWhile the President possesses a level of control over executive branch personnel policies, several options are available to the 115th Congress and future Congresses to facilitate, alter, block, or conduct oversight of the executive branch\u2019s initiatives. These include legislative action through Department of State or foreign relations authorization measures and annual appropriations bills or other measures, as well as periodic hearings on management and reform issues. On personnel issues, for example, Congress could encourage the Department of State to further increase hiring with additional appropriated funds to the Human Resources category of the department\u2019s Diplomatic & Consular Programs account, which is used to pay salaries for the department\u2019s domestic and overseas American employees. Congress could also weigh in on the department\u2019s plans to improve workforce management, or consider changes to aspects of the presidential appointments process.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R45203", "sha1": "64929eeed7dbeeed226fdb760bc3335bf9fcc466", "filename": "files/20180518_R45203_64929eeed7dbeeed226fdb760bc3335bf9fcc466.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45203_files&id=/0.png": "files/20180518_R45203_images_fa74d0b981b662ae5ab98facc6e01fc4079c10fb.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45203_files&id=/1.png": "files/20180518_R45203_images_da3a66cd1f6bc22e9b4a723877cce84fe3cf9282.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R45203", "sha1": "fd4d5001dd0041b0a4d9dd70a29c85e927464b03", "filename": "files/20180518_R45203_fd4d5001dd0041b0a4d9dd70a29c85e927464b03.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4787, "name": "State Department & International Organizations" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Foreign Affairs" ] }