H.R. 9086 — Foreign Service Modernization Act

This section defines “appropriate congressional committees” as the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, for purposes of the Foreign Service Act.

This section requires members of the Foreign Service to implement and execute U.S. foreign policy through diplomacy, program management, and advancing U.S. interests, consistent with policies established by the President and the Secretary of State.

This section directs the Secretary of State to conduct regular outreach, information sessions, and preparation resources on Foreign Service officer selection and other entry programs at nontraditional institutions of higher education, including community colleges, junior colleges, and career and technical colleges. It expresses the sense of Congress that the Service should actively recruit from such institutions and authorizes partnerships with career centers, digital outreach, and interagency collaboration.

This section requires chiefs of mission to exercise appropriate and effective risk management practices that encourage relevant executive branch employees to regularly and meaningfully engage in expeditionary diplomacy with the local population. It also directs the Secretary of State to establish, within 90 days of enactment, a Tiger Team of at least nine Department officials plus one development expert to develop and implement, within 12 months, a plan assessing current expeditionary diplomacy capabilities, reviewing prior efforts, identifying challenges, and recommending policy, regulatory, and legislative changes. The team must notify Congress of its members, submit a report with recommendations and an implementation timeline to the appropriate congressional committees within two years, oversee implementation for 90 days after the report, and terminate thereafter.

This section requires Diplomatic Security special agents assigned as Regional Security Officers to support the chief of mission in meeting security responsibilities for the United States Government by serving as the principal security and lead law enforcement representatives to chiefs of mission.

This section requires the Director General of the Foreign Service to serve concurrently as the Assistant Secretary for Human Resources.

This section requires the Secretary of State to establish and maintain a cybersecurity and technology governance framework for United States missions abroad. The framework delineates roles for the Bureau of Diplomatic Technology, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, regional bureaus, and chiefs of mission across cybersecurity policy, operational implementation, technology lifecycle management, artificial intelligence governance, incident response, vulnerability management, and risk reporting. It mandates clear incident escalation authority, coordination between the two bureaus on cyber, physical, personnel, and supply chain security, and chief of mission accountability for the cybersecurity posture at each post. It also directs inventory controls for government hardware, foreign supply chain risk mitigation, pre-deployment equipment validation, and standardized incident response protocols with defined reporting timelines.

This section expresses the sense of Congress that detailed knowledge of United States foreign policy and Department of State operations is vital for chiefs of mission, Assistant Secretaries, and other senior officials to advance national security and competitiveness abroad, and that the Department must be staffed with empowered nonpartisan professionals and qualified political appointees to counter the expanding global diplomatic presence of the People’s Republic of China and other adversaries.

This section establishes the Veterans and Foreign Service Pathway Program to recruit, prepare, and support veterans (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 2108) and members of the Armed Forces within one year of separation for Foreign Service positions. It authorizes a five-year pilot for streamlined hiring into designated roles including Diplomatic Security special agents, security engineering officers, cybersecurity positions, and diplomatic couriers (capped at 10 percent annually), while requiring coordination with Department of Defense transition programs and outreach at military installations.

This section requires the Secretary of State to assess the fitness and suitability for appointment of individuals selected for and completing a Foreign Service fellowship program, without regard to subsequent changes in workforce planning, hiring targets, or policy. It mandates consideration for appointment within 12 months after completion of educational requirements, unless deferred or pending security, medical, or suitability determinations, and requires written notice to the individual and the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committees if assessment is delayed.

This section authorizes members of the Foreign Service to participate in external training, education, or details with approval from the head of the foreign affairs agency concerned when such participation serves the interest of the United States. It requires agencies to protect participants’ Service status, time-in-class, tenure eligibility, promotion rights, and performance evaluations; guarantees reentry to positions consistent with grade and qualifications; prohibits waivers except by statute; and directs each agency to issue implementing regulations within one year of enactment.

This section conditions promotion to the Senior Foreign Service, beginning five years after enactment, on completion of at least one joint duty assignment of 12 months or more in another federal agency, Congress, an international organization, or a state or local government. The Secretary may grant exceptions when no reasonable opportunity for such an assignment existed and must exempt Foreign Service Medical Specialists who entered at FS-01 and serve as Regional Medical Officers.

This section requires the Secretary of State to finalize lists of Foreign Service members recommended for tenure and for promotion to and within the Senior Foreign Service, and to transmit those lists to the President, within 90 days after the conclusion of any relevant selection board. It permits the Secretary to delay an individual name only for an ongoing disciplinary, suitability, or security investigation, requires written notice to the affected officer, and mandates a briefing to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee within 30 days if the deadline is missed.

This section prohibits Department of State employees involved in recruiting public members of Foreign Service selection boards from referring or recommending individuals with whom they have a family or close personal relationship. It requires prompt written disclosure and recusal when such a connection is known, bars applicants referred in violation from advancing, and subjects violators to administrative discipline. It also mandates that contract request memoranda document the recruitment source and process, include a certification of no personal connection from the referrer, and be retained for three years, with standardized policies governing word-of-mouth referrals effective 180 days after enactment.

This section adds experience with the Legislative branch, including fellowships in a congressional office or committee or service in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, to the criteria that Foreign Service selection boards must consider when recommending promotions.

This section requires the Director of the Overseas Briefing Center, in coordination with the Director of the National Foreign Affairs Training Center, to provide appropriate congressional committees access to the Information Center and its digital and physical materials. It also requires the Director to furnish scheduling options for such access within two days of a committee request.

This section directs the Secretary of State to designate a list of critical foreign languages at least every three years, beginning within 180 days of enactment, and transmit it to the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees. For each language, the list must specify minimum proficiency levels and criteria for mission-essential positions; the Secretary must coordinate with other agencies to promote interoperability and avoid duplication, incorporate the languages into Foreign Service training, limited appointments, and surge reserves, and ensure instruction and testing policies preserve these capabilities.

This section requires any Foreign Service member completing more than six months of full-time, Department-funded language training to serve three consecutive tours in positions requiring proficiency in that language, beginning with the first assignment after training. The Secretary may waive the requirement only upon certifying to the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees that the member has a qualifying medical condition, a higher-priority assignment, or no available qualifying position, and the rule applies to training begun 180 days after enactment.

This section establishes a diplomatic security fellowship program. The Secretary, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security, administers the program to recruit, retain, train, and prepare qualified individuals for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, with objectives to leverage specialized skills, provide structured training and mentorship, and support recruitment through the Department’s existing competitive hiring processes.

This section establishes a program, developed by the Secretary in consultation with the Assistant Secretaries for Human Resources and for African Affairs, to facilitate and expedite hiring of qualified individuals with expertise on African countries into the Foreign Service for positions at Bureau of African Affairs missions and domestic offices.

This section authorizes the Secretary of State, acting through the Under Secretary for Foreign Assistance, to establish a program that recruits, trains, and retains Contracting Officer’s Representatives and Agreement Officer’s Representatives. Personnel in the program must receive training in procurement, grants and cooperative agreement oversight, logistics, financial management, monitoring and evaluation, and emergency response operations to manage foreign assistance and disaster relief programs.

This section expands mandatory Foreign Service training on religious freedom to include instruction on identifying and addressing antisemitism, including contemporary forms and Holocaust distortion and denial. It adds required training and briefings on the AUKUS partnership for officers assigned to Australia or the United Kingdom or working on related issues, covering governance, Pillar I and II technologies, and workforce needs. It authorizes new training courses on international narcotics control, law enforcement cooperation, transnational crime, and anti-corruption efforts, with required participation for officers managing related assistance. It authorizes training for chiefs of mission, deputy chiefs of mission, and officers assigned to countries with significant online scam activity targeting Americans, covering transnational criminal organizations, scam centers, human trafficking, and foreign government complicity. It establishes a training course for chiefs of mission on defense cooperation authorities outside chief of mission control, including concurrence procedures, foreign policy implications, and coordination responsibilities.

This section requires all principal officers and Chiefs of Mission to receive a post-specific brief from the Crisis Management and Strategy Office at the Department Operations Center before departing the District of Columbia on assignment.

This section establishes a structured training framework for Foreign Service members at defined career milestones, integrated into normal career progression and reflecting evolving foreign policy priorities, emerging threats, and the President’s National Security Strategy. It requires protected training periods in the assignment and promotion cycle, treated as a standard component of service and coordinated like professional military education models. Training covers national security, cybersecurity, economic statecraft, leadership, and other subjects, with specific instruction at entry-level, mid-level, pre-senior, and senior stages. The Secretary must establish evaluation metrics and certify completion, and must establish National Foreign Affairs Training Center curriculum within one year. A member may not be promoted above FS–03 or into the Senior Foreign Service without completing the training, certified by the Director General, though the Secretary may waive the requirement in writing for extraordinary circumstances.

This section requires members of the Foreign Service to complete tiered leadership and management training of at least one month per tier before assuming any supervisory position of one month or longer over at least one U.S. government employee, eligible family member, or locally employed staff. It directs the Secretary of State to establish curricula for first-time supervisors, mid-level managers, and senior leaders including Deputy Chiefs of Mission and Chiefs of Mission; permits temporary waivers of up to 60 days in emergent circumstances with notification to the appropriate congressional committees within 15 days; and takes effect 180 days after enactment.

This section establishes a mandatory academic program at the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center on global supply chains and strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China. The program is required for entry-level Economic Officers before the end of their second tour and for Economic Officers before deployment to posts whose primary focus is critical minerals or energy; it must cover international agreements, U.S. supply-chain policies, geological knowledge, and diplomatic tools. It further requires specialized critical-minerals training, including country-specific analysis and risk factors, for Economic Officers deploying to countries that produce, process, refine, export, or host significant critical-mineral reserves or supply chains.

This section requires Foreign Service officers assigned to consular duties, including on temporary or permanent assignments, to complete at least four weeks of mandatory post-specific training at the consular post before independently adjudicating visas or performing services for U.S. citizens. The training must cover country-specific visa trends and fraud patterns, immigration law, local procedures, consular systems, coordination with host-nation entities, national security screening, and quality assurance, and must be supervised by experienced consular officers.

This section establishes Department-wide standards for diplomatic security training, to be developed and maintained by the Secretary of State through the Director of the National Foreign Affairs Training Center. The standards must integrate physical security, counterintelligence, cybersecurity, technical security, legal and use-of-force requirements, and fraud threats into a unified framework; incorporate post-specific risk factors including high-risk environments; ensure consistent quality across bureaus, posts, and personnel; and be reviewed at least every three years, with coordination required among the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the Bureau of Diplomatic Technology, and other relevant bureaus.

This section establishes a mandatory crisis leadership and emergency management training program for Foreign Service members assigned to senior leadership positions at U.S. diplomatic and consular posts. It applies to chiefs of mission, deputy chiefs of mission, principal officers, and other senior positions designated by the Secretary of State, and bars assignment to those positions without successful completion of the training except under a case-by-case waiver for exigent circumstances.

This section requires the Secretary of State to mandate annual cybersecurity, technology, and artificial intelligence governance training for every member of the Foreign Service, including career members, candidates, non-career appointees, chiefs of mission, and deputy chiefs of mission. The training must cover at least ten specified topics, including cybersecurity hygiene, phishing and insider threats, classified information safeguards, secure device handling abroad, approved software and cloud systems, personal device and foreign network risks, incident reporting, artificial intelligence data protection, semiconductor supply chain security, and policy responsibilities. It also directs enhanced role-specific training for chiefs and deputy chiefs of mission, senior bureau leaders, system administrators, personnel at high-risk posts, information technology and artificial intelligence career tracks, and those managing or procuring such systems, plus pre-assignment training for overseas posts on foreign-environment device security and counterintelligence risks. Completion must be tracked and may factor into performance evaluations and leadership assignments.

This section establishes policies and procedures to improve placement and hiring outcomes for participants in the Veterans Innovation Partnership Fellowship, including structured pathways to employment within the Department of State. The policies must include designation of a coordinating bureau or office, procedures to match fellows with Service employment opportunities, guidance on using existing hiring authorities for conversion to permanent or term positions, mentorship and career counseling, tracking of conversion rates and outcomes, and facilitation of placement into the Veterans and Foreign Service Pathway Program where applicable.

This section establishes an independent commission to review the structure, relevance, and effectiveness of the Foreign Service career tracks. The commission must include members from the Department of State (excluding the Bureau of Human Resources), other federal agencies, former Service officers, academia, and the private sector, with the chair and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee each selecting one member. It must assess alignment with diplomatic and national security priorities, evaluate changes to career tracks, and submit a report with findings and recommendations to the Secretary of State and the two committees within one year, after which the commission terminates.

This section directs the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to establish a formal recruitment program within military transition programs to support veterans' entry into the Foreign Service. The program must integrate Service career information into the Transition Assistance Program curriculum, conduct outreach at military installations, refer qualified candidates to the Veterans and Foreign Service Pathway Program and related pilot hiring authorities, and provide pre-application guidance, while prohibiting any separate or noncompetitive hiring process.

This section expands eligibility for the Foreign Service Internship Program to students enrolled at least half-time in institutions of higher education (from full-time only). It also requires the Secretary of State to conduct outreach, to the extent practicable, to potential applicants enrolled at community colleges, vocational or technical institutions, and other nontraditional institutions of higher education.

This section establishes a Diplomatic Reserve Corps Pilot Program in the Department of State within nine months to provide a surge workforce of retired Foreign Service members for diplomatic operations during crises, evacuations, armed conflicts, and natural disasters. It requires at least 250 members in the first year, with possible annual increases of 250 for the following three fiscal years, caps senior ranks at 30 percent, mandates orientation and readiness training, requires annual evaluations, and directs an initial plan to Congress within six months and a final evaluation report within three years that assesses expanding eligibility to retired civil servants and others. The program terminates after three years unless reauthorized.