Latest news with #ForeignService
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Democrats Urge Rubio to Not Fire Diplomats, End Hiring Freeze
Scores of congressional Democrats are urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to abandon plans to shrink the State Department workforce, end a hiring freeze and resume offering the Foreign Service Officer Test three times a year. Sixty House lawmakers, led by Representative Don Beyer of Virginia, wrote that reports the Trump administration plans to terminate 700 Foreign Service officers currently assigned within the US would deprive the country of much-needed expertise at a time when diplomats are particularly needed.
New York Times
a day ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Lawmakers Tell Rubio to Refrain From Mass Layoffs at State Department
Sixty Democratic lawmakers told Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday to refrain from moving ahead with mass layoffs of State Department employees and to lift a hiring freeze at a time of widening global crises. In a letter to Mr. Rubio, the lawmakers said they were concerned about reported plans to fire about 700 career diplomats, known as Foreign Service officers, based mainly on the fact that those employees are currently posted in the United States rather than overseas. Diplomats spend much of their career abroad but rotate through Washington and other U.S. posts such as the United Nations, so firing people who happen to be currently on assignment in the country is seen as arbitrary and unfair by many State Department employees, as well as by the lawmakers. 'Hiring and assignment freezes as well as mass firings of these diplomatic experts leave the U.S. with limited tools to engage as a leader on the world stage during this critical juncture,' the lawmakers wrote in the letter, which Representative Donald S. Beyer Jr., Democrat of Virginia, helped to organize. Information indicating that diplomats could 'be penalized for their present duty domestic stations is especially concerning, and not conducive to a thoughtful, priorities-driven reorganization process that retains the best talent and recognizes the unique nature of the Foreign Service.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Telangana govt takes serious view of transfers in violation of prescribed norms
Telangana Government has taken a serious note of transfers of employees being effected by certain departments in violation of the prescribed norms. The Heads of Departments (HoDs) and corporation heads issued orders citing, in some instances, Government Orders which are no longer in force as the basis for such transfers. Finance Secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultania recalled the ban on the transfer of employees, except in some cases, imposed on August 1 last year. Accordingly, posting orders to employees on account of promotion should be issued to clear the existing vacancies without shifting any other employees. Posting orders to employees due to disbandment of posts, reversions, repatriations, deputations (on Foreign Service only), and disciplinary proceedings should be issued in clear existing vacancies without shifting other employees. The same is the case with employees on return from long leave of more than six months. The vacancy arising out of the leave up to six months should not be filled by transfer. The government has specifically instructed the departments to obtain orders in circulation to the Chief Minister through Finance Secretary, Chief Secretary, Minister concerned and Finance Minister in case of relaxation of ban on transfers is required. However, it has come to the notice of the government that few departments were issuing transfer orders without following the ban. Mr. Sultania in a circular memo termed 'most important' requested all the administrative heads to issue suitable instructions to the HoDs/corporations concerned and other institutions that there would be no exemptions and permissions for transfer of employees except for the conditions laid down, and directed them to strictly comply with the orders.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
American Foreign Service Association urges State Dept to halt planned layoffs amid litigation
WASHINGTON, June 25 (Reuters) - The American Foreign Service Association urged the State Department on Wednesday to not go ahead with a planned overhaul that likely would see around 2,000 layoffs of personnel, saying it should abide by a federal court that prohibits federal agencies from implementing mass firings. The department has prepared to start sending hundreds of reduction-in-force notices to its domestic workforce as early as Friday, sources familiar with the plan said, but a final decision on the timing is yet to be taken. Ongoing litigation may well delay that timeline. At the same time, the U.S. Supreme Court can weigh in anytime on the administration's bid to halt the judicial order blocking mass job cuts. "Sources inside the department tell us that layoffs will be announced as soon as the end of this week or early next week,' AFSA President Tom Yazdgerdi said in a statement. "Unless the Supreme Court intervenes, the department is legally barred from taking any action outlined in its reorganization plans," Yazdgerdi said. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In late May, the administration notified Congress of a major plan to overhaul its diplomatic corps that will cut thousands of jobs including hundreds of members of its elite U.S. Foreign Service who advocate for U.S. interests in the face of growing assertiveness from adversaries such as China and Russia. The reorganization was set to be largely concluded by July 1, officials said at the time. Initial plans to send the notices earlier this month were put on hold after a federal judge in California on June 13 temporarily blocked the U.S. State Department from implementing the reorganization plan. U.S. Department of Justice lawyer Alexander Resar said that the State Department would not issue layoff notices that were scheduled to go out on June 14. The shake-up comes as part of an unprecedented push by President Donald Trump to shrink the federal bureaucracy, cut what he says is wasteful spending of American taxpayer money and align what remains with his "America First" priorities. According to the plan shared with Congress in late May, the Department is expected to cut U.S.-based civil service and foreign service officers from the domestic workforce by 3,448 people, out of 18,780 people employed as of May 4. More than 300 of the department's 734 bureaus and offices will be streamlined, merged or eliminated. More than 2,000 employees will be subject to job cuts while more than 1,500 will be subject to deferred resignations. It was not immediately clear how many of them would be foreign service versus civil service. Around 700 of those could be foreign service officers, one source said. AFSA, established in 1924, has close to 16,800 members that include active-duty and retired staff of the Foreign Service at the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Foreign Commercial Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and U.S. Agency for Global Media.
Entrepreneur
5 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
This Keepsake Reminds Me of My First Dream — And Why I'm Grateful It Never Came True
This story appears in the May 2025 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe » At age 24, I planned my life out: I got a job at the State Department in Washington, D.C., which I planned to use to enter the Foreign Service, which I thought would help me achieve my ultimate goal — to become a diplomat. But then life got in the way. I fell in love with a friend who would become my husband, and he got a job in Houston, my hometown. So in 2012, I chose to follow him home, giving up one dream for another. As I prepared to leave D.C., I bought a small, porcelain dish engraved with the U.S. Department of State's seal. It was touristy, but it felt like a souvenir of my old life. My job search in Texas was frustrating. I'd stare at that porcelain dish and feel nostalgic. I didn't want to take some random job just to make money. I was looking for a path — something meaningful and reliable, like the predetermined career framework I'd left behind. I was passionate about sustainability, and kept wondering: Who will give me a job in this field? Related: What No One Tells You About Entrepreneurship — 5 Hard Truths Honestly, I never considered entrepreneurship. I thought I needed a specific set of credentials to be in business. After all, that's how government and corporate jobs work: You must be qualified. I had no MBA and no big consulting firm on my resume. But after a year of dead ends, I came to realize something: Nobody is going to do this for me. And isn't that the seed of entrepreneurship? I started a consulting firm. I had no idea what I was doing, but I worked hard, found good advisors, and followed the breadcrumbs. As it turns out, I didn't need qualifications! All I needed was curiosity, a trust in myself, and an acceptance that most paths aren't as predictable as the one I had left behind. My consulting firm grew and thrived. My partner and I sold it in 2021, and then I decided to pursue another business for which I had no qualifications: I launched MendIt, a platform for clothing repair, where I'm now figuring things out all over again. I still have that porcelain dish sitting on my desk, but it no longer makes me nostalgic. Now it reminds me that, sometimes, our "plans" can blind us to the greater opportunities ahead. Anything is possible when you relentlessly follow your passion, drop the stories about credentials and worthiness, and simply roll up your sleeves to get started. Related: Stop Trying to Be the Next Unicorn — and Start Building a Real, Sustainable Business. Here's How.
