Rep. Bera Introduces Legislation to Protect America’s Diplomatic Workforce

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Representative Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-06), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, introduced the Protecting America's Diplomatic Workforce Act, legislation to safeguard employees at the Department of State and other foreign affairs agencies from unjustified reductions in force.

This week marks one year since more than 1,350 dedicated Civil and Foreign Service employees were terminated from the Department of State without adequate justification. Congress still has not received clear answers about the basis for these dismissals or the resulting loss of institutional expertise from America's diplomatic workforce.

"America's diplomats and civil servants play an essential role in protecting our national security, assisting Americans overseas, and advancing our interests around the world," said Representative Bera. "The mass dismissals carried out one year ago lacked the transparency, justification, and careful planning that decisions of this magnitude demand."

"This legislation would ensure future workforce reductions are based on merit, subject to meaningful congressional oversight, and carefully evaluated for their impact on America's diplomatic presence and advance our values and interests around the world," Bera continued. "We cannot afford to lose experienced public servants and decades of institutional knowledge without a clear and compelling justification."

"AFSA welcomes the introduction in the House of the Protecting America's Diplomatic Workforce Act, which would restore transparency, fairness, and merit-based standards to the Foreign Service reduction-in-force process," said American Foreign Service Association President John Dinkelman. "The bill would reverse the administration's unilateral 2025 changes, codify longstanding RIF procedures, restore worldwide competition, and eliminate the nonsensical practice of treating individual offices as separate competitive areas."

The legislation would apply to the Department of State, United States Agency for International Development, Millennium Challenge Corporation, United States International Development Finance Corporation, Peace Corps, Foreign Agricultural Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Foreign Commercial Service, United States Trade and Development Agency, and United States Agency for Global Media and its networks.

Original co-sponsors of this legislation are Johnny Olszewski (MD-02), Sarah McBride (DE-AL), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), and Mike Quigley (IL-05).

In 2025, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

The full text of the legislation is available here.