▶ 0:04:50Yes, sir. Very good. Good morning. The Committee on Foreign Affairs will come to order. I would ask everybody to rise, join me in reciting the Pledge of I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
▶ 0:05:34The purpose of today's hearing is to provide an opportunity to assess the role the Foreign Service Officer and how management authorities can be used to restore a mission-driven Foreign Service that serves America's interests I now recognize the chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, Representative Lawler, for the opening statement for the committee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 0:05:58We are here today to discuss one of the most vital components of American foreign policy and national security, our Foreign Service Officers. FSOs work for the State Department in US missions. They focus on the consular, economic, public diplomacy, management, political policies, and operations abroad. We call on them day in and day out to represent our values and put diplomacy into action throughout the world.
▶ 0:06:26Foreign Service Officers frequently serve in some of the most challenging environments in the world. Today, many are posted across the Middle East, working around the clock to assist with the evacuation and protection of American citizens in a rapidly evolving security environment. Others serve in adversarial countries or strategic competitors that are not always friendly to US interests like China.
▶ 0:06:49And some are stationed in high-threat environments such as in Iraq or Sudan, often serving separate from their Even in these conditions, FSOs must carry out their mission, advancing US interests and helping to keep our nation There is no room for failure here. And yet, the Foreign Service Act, which shapes how FSOs are trained and how they work, has largely remained untouched for the last four and a half decades.
▶ 0:07:18That changes now. And it starts with a comprehensive look at the mission intent of the Foreign Service. Today, we will ask a basic but critical question. What is diplomacy? And how is the role of Foreign Service Officers changed since the FSA was last reviewed over 45 years ago?
▶ 0:07:38Last year, this committee passed meaningful State Department reforms to reauthorize and codify critical components of our national security There, we focused on command and control in the department and its structure. Today, our hearing builds on that legislation as we turn our attention to the State Department's culture, its diplomatic missions abroad, and how the Foreign Service Act should be adjusted to fit a world that has certainly changed since 1980.
▶ 0:08:05We are taking a deep dive into the existing authority authorizing authorities over FSOs, so Congress can provide them with more direction to promote American interests and national security in their missions. The FSA established the modern Foreign Service, providing the State Department with the direction and protection to promote American interests and national security through our diplomats. Key components of this law describe the main functions, responsibilities, and purpose of the Foreign Service.
▶ 0:08:36They also direct the administration processes of the Foreign Service examinations and promotions. Further, the Foreign Service Act provides the FSO professional development programs and support. These are only a few of the many provisions that make our diplomatic corps what it is today.
▶ 0:08:55It is the responsibility of this committee to ensure that these authorities equip FSOs with the tools and training to represent a cohesive stance in promoting national security interests across the globe. The United States has nearly 280 posts across the world with almost 14,500 FSOs employed. At each post, the Foreign Service and our FSOs are the face, voice, and representatives of America.
▶ 0:09:22The trainings and systems in place for our FSOs should reflect that monumental task. It is critical that the service and our FSOs are united in a clear mission and rooted in a culture that effectively supports the needs of US foreign policy in this decade. Our witness today is Mr. James Jason Evans, Under Secretary for Management at the State Department. Mr. Evans oversees the recruitment, training, and professional development of FSOs.
▶ 0:09:53He, along with Secretary Rubio, sets the tone for our diplomatic posture put forward by the Foreign Service. Mr. Evans, we appreciate your continued partnership and cooperation with And I just want to mention that this committee currently has three requests to your office that we look forward to hearing back on.
▶ 0:10:12These include a briefing on the Department's internship and fellowship a report related to the diplomatic reserve corps, and information regarding A-100 courses, FSO cones, and tradecraft courses. Getting answers here are vital to our efforts to ensure we are working hand-in-hand with the Department to best equip our Foreign Service. Mr.
▶ 0:10:35Evans, we look forward to your testimony and to a robust discussion on how we can work together to ensure our diplomats and the service have a clear vision and mission that fits the needs of American foreign policy in this century and the demands of the future. I yield the remainder of my time. Chair, now recognize the ranking member from New York, Representative Meeks, for any opening statement. Thank [clears throat] you, Chairman Mast, and thank you, Under Secretary Evans, for joining us today.
▶ 0:11:02I welcome this hearing, though one hearing could not substitute for the sustained oversight this committee has failed to conduct. What we're witnessing today is a severely diminished State Department, reduced in capacity, reduced in credibility, and reduced in its ability to protect Americans abroad. That did not happen by accident. It is the direct result of this administration's ideological and ill-conceived decisions.
▶ 0:11:27As members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, our job is to conduct oversight of the State Department, assess its needs, and pass laws to strengthen what should be the world's premier diplomatic institution. That responsibility has been undermined by an administration that refuses to engage with Congress, refuses to provide information on its reorganization and decision-making, and refuses to comply with the laws we've already passed or execute funding we've appropriated.
▶ 0:11:56My Republican colleagues have been complicit in the lack of transparency. We've seen the Trump administration take military action in Iran last June, in Venezuela in Venezuela in January, and now launch a war of choice in Iran. And yet to date, the majority has yet to hold a single hearing with top administration officials on any of these issues.
▶ 0:12:19Together with all Democrats on this committee, I sent a letter earlier this week to President Trump demanding that Steve Witcoff and Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary Pete Hoekstra testify publicly before this committee because the American people and Congress deserve answers about this administration's strategy and its plans for what comes next in Iran. I am deeply concerned by State's lack of preparedness for this war. Mr.
▶ 0:12:46Under Secretary, the Department was caught flat-footed and Americans have paid the price. The administration issued guidance far too late in a haphazard manner, placing American citizens living and traveling in the region at risk. Here is a specific contradiction that I expect you to address today.
▶ 0:13:06The Department has not raised the travel advisories to do not travel, even as it is actively evacuating Americans from those countries, and as Iranian missiles and drone attacks continue against the United States and allied assets across the region. That is not a bureaucratic oversight. That is a failure in the duty to protect American citizens.
▶ 0:13:29I will also note that I, again with Democrats on this committee, sent a letter yesterday to Secretary Rubio demanding answers on the decision-making that contributed to this failure to plan. We expect prompt written answers.
▶ 0:13:44And as this administration creates crises around the world with no plan for what comes next, diplomacy grows more, not less, Yet this administration has chosen to fire so many of its dedicated career experts across the Department and instilled unqualified political appointees at key leadership positions.
▶ 0:14:06At precisely the time when thousands of Americans were stranded, how did the Department's decision to fire over 100 people from Consular Affairs, the very people who could have coordinated charter flights, synchronized messaging, and supported Americans in the region, impact the Department's ability to help vulnerable Americans? Mr.
▶ 0:14:27Under Secretary, I want an answer on how many Americans remain stranded or or in transiting transisting from the Middle East, and what is the plan to help bring them home? Because from where I sit, this is a dangerous level of mismanagement at the worst possible moment. Now, I know we've heard repeatedly from Secretary Rubio's reductions in force were meant to streamline the Department, but I don't buy that.
▶ 0:14:55The administration has failed to provide Congress with a damage assessment for the risks, despite repeated requests. How many Chinese and Farsi speakers did you fire? How many Iranian experts or grants experts did you terminate? If these actions strengthen the Department, why not demonstrate it transparently? The refusal to provide this information confirms many what many already suspect. These cuts weaken the Department while increasing risk and cost.
▶ 0:15:26The American Foreign Service Association recently report recent report tells a depressing story. 98% of members report reported declining morale. 86% reported that the administration changes have directly impacted their ability to do their jobs. That is not streamlining. That is hollowing out the very institutions we rely on to manage crises like the one the administration created in the Middle East.
▶ 0:15:51Elon Musk was allowed to upend Department operations, canceling grants, terminating programs, dismantling institutional capacity he never understood. The consequences are now visible. Americans placed in needless danger, expertise lost, and the next generation of diplomats left in limbo. Young people whose education taxpayers invested millions of dollars in.
▶ 0:16:14And finally, this administration has put fellowships and internships that recruit future diplomats into uncertainty and unilaterally and illegally terminated congressionally mandated efforts The Trump administration is systematically undercutting our diplomatic corps.
▶ 0:16:30It has recalled over 30 career ambassadors without replacements and purged subject matter experts and left 115 ambassador posts vacant, including in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Algeria, Kuwait, and Iraq at a time when they are most needed. This is not streamlining. This is self-sabotage. The American people deserve to be represented by the best and brightest.
▶ 0:16:55Instead, the administration has prioritized loyalty over expertise at the expense of the United United States national security. Again, thank you for being here, and with that, and I again await for your testimony. I yield back my time. Other members of the committee are reminded that opening statements may be submitted for the record. I appreciated much of the previous opening statement. We agree on much, but we agree on whether it was positive or negative.
▶ 0:17:19I would say that, you know, thank you for the reductions that you have done in having people on board that were conducting spending the American taxpayer dollars on drag shows. I wouldn't call anybody a subject matter experts that's sending the American taxpayer dollars to do transgender job fairs or anything else, and I thank Elon Musk for working as as much as he might not know everything. He knows enough to know that we do not need people working in government that are trying to queer maps. So, I thank for I'm thankful for all of those things. We agree on them taking place.
▶ 0:17:48We just disagree on whether they're positive or negative. Uh your full statements will be a made a part of the record. I'll ask you to keep your spoken remarks to 5 minutes in order to allow time for member questions. Uh in that, I would say we're pleased to have Under Secretary for Management, Jason Evans, before us today.
▶ 0:18:03Uh we look forward to any opening statement that you may give us, and I now recognize you for that opening Chairman Mast, Ranking Member Meeks, and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the topic of restoring mission focus at the Department of State, and to discuss the authority, accountability, and role of the Foreign Service in advancing America's interests abroad.
▶ 0:18:27The Foreign Service is the backbone of American diplomacy, and its officers represent our nation's values and interests across the globe. As a 24-year career Foreign Service officer, having spent time overseas in assignments in places such as Afghanistan, Hong Kong, and Brazil, I am acutely aware of the role of the Foreign Service and the management operations that support it.
▶ 0:18:49As the Under Secretary for Management, one of my mandates is to ensure that our policies and systems for recruiting, training, assigning, and evaluating the Department's entire workforce, including Foreign Service officers, are thorough, fair, and mission-driven, are and are in alignment with the administration's federal workforce priorities and I combine this role with performing the duties of the Director General of the Foreign Service, illustrating that an effective Foreign Service is at the center of this administration's vision for
▶ 0:19:19America First foreign policy. The Department long struggled to perform basic diplomatic functions due to its former organizational structure and management operations. To begin to address these flaws, the Department underwent a reorganization last year that restored mission focus and realigned domestic functions to better support its global mission, driving resources towards our 275 posts The actions taken by the Department over the last year to reorganize have positioned us to implement much-needed
▶ 0:19:49workforce reforms and identify improvements in the Foreign Service Act. The reorganization refocused the authorities associated with each of the domestic bureaus and offices and better aligned our resources with the policy priorities we face in the modern era. It eliminated redundant functions, enhanced accountability, and empowered our people to deliver results.
▶ 0:20:12There is now a better foundation to address the current and future needs of the Foreign Service as a result of the reorganization and the new strategic priorities from the administration. The Foreign Service Act has been in place for nearly 46 years. Although our national security and foreign policy needs have changed significantly during that time, the department's focus of executing the national interest of Americans remains the same. It is imperative that the Foreign Service be staffed with skilled officers to meet these new demands.
▶ 0:20:42I am especially focused on ensuring that our management authorities are used to restore and enhance a global workforce, including the Foreign Service, that is agile, disciplined, and responsive to the needs of this country and of the American people.
▶ 0:20:56Given recent developments, I would like to take a moment to discuss the department's role in the Middle East as the embassy security and evacuation of American citizens fall under my The safety and security of our personnel and facilities remains our highest I have provided directions to chiefs of mission and deputy chiefs of mission around the world on the security of our In addition to the usual global operations, department employees are working 24/7 around the globe on task forces to assist American citizens, including their colleagues.
▶ 0:21:26As security incidents have occurred at our overseas posts, the department has taken action to ensure the safety of our This includes following legal mandates to conduct security reviews to ensure the safety of our people and facilities now and in the future. The department has directed, authorized, and ordered departures from posts, the process whereby diplomats and their families temporarily return to safe haven away from their overseas assignments, and provided guidance and resources to support employees during these transitions.
▶ 0:21:56The department continues to execute its mission throughout these actions while prioritizing support to American Over the last few weeks, the department has assisted tens of thousands of American citizens. I want to thank the dedicated professionals around the world, which includes the department's Foreign Service officers and our colleagues from other federal agencies for their commitment to safety and support of Americans.
▶ 0:22:18I look forward to working with this committee and with the dedicated professionals of the department to advance reforms that will strengthen the Foreign Service and ensure that America's interests are effectively represented abroad. I welcome your questions and look forward to our discussion. Thank you for your time and Thank you for your testimony. I agree with much of what you've said. I see the only thing diminished in the State Department is aimless spending. We're about to put a an embassy in Venezuela, which is amazing.
▶ 0:22:45I predict that we're going to have an embassy open again in Iran, which again is just a testament to the fact that the State Department is not diminished, but that America is on the right track. And that, I want to recognize Representative Lawler for any questions that he may Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Under Secretary, thank you for being here, and I want to thank you and the department, Secretary Rubio, for the coordination on getting American citizens out of the Middle East.
▶ 0:23:12I have hundreds, if not thousands, of constituents that are in the Middle East, predominantly Israel at any given time, and so I certainly appreciate the cooperation. We need to continue to remain vigilant.
▶ 0:23:27To that end, though, I still have hundreds of people that are looking to get out, and and so I appreciate your Two weeks ago, the MENA subcommittee examined how performance evaluations support accountability and merit-based efforts within the Foreign Service, including testimony from senior bureau official for the Bureau of Human Resources, Sarah McKemmie.
▶ 0:23:48From your role overseeing the implementation of the department's management and personnel systems, how does the department ensure that performance evaluations meaningfully influence promotions and assignments rather than becoming a check-the-box exercise? Thank you for that question and for the opportunity to discuss this very important issue.
▶ 0:24:09One of the things we are truly focused on is actually evaluating the performance of our Foreign Service Since [clears throat] I've been in the service, 24 years, our evaluations have been mainly an essay contest. We write what we did this year, our boss writes what they think we did this year, and then their boss writes a small paragraph about what they think we did this year. And we're evaluated for performance based on solely that report.
▶ 0:24:35To my mind, it depends on how well you can write as to whether or not you get promoted, not what you've done, not the impacts you've actually had. So, what we've done is we've converted to a system whereby each employee is evaluated against the core precepts and given a score so that we can truly rank our personnel and find out who really is performing the work that we need them to perform and who we can move up the line versus who we need to move down the line.
▶ 0:25:01So, it's it's truly an opportunity to focus and to to promote the right people to the right positions and make sure that we're we're actually evaluating I appreciate that. And when talking about how best to focus the Foreign Service and how they can work effectively and efficiently on their missions, it's important to take into account the people themselves. So, in order to have a successful Foreign Service, we need successful FSOs.
▶ 0:25:27When speaking directly with FSOs, what are the most common concerns they raise? I think one of the things I see the most is is people not understanding how certain people got promoted over other people and things like that because it's not clear. It's not a transparent process. So, I think by redoing how we do our evaluations, it's going to allow us to address that situation and really make sure that the people that are truly performing, our superstars, are the ones that are getting the opportunities.
▶ 0:25:58And are the FSOs largely content with the process for assignments and rotating every two to three years? I mean, I I will tell you on many of the CODELs that I've gone on, you know, we've met with a lot of the FSOs. They really do a tremendous job. They know the people on the ground. They our counterparts in the respective countries.
▶ 0:26:21Is there any interest in lengthening the period of time for a Again, thank you for allowing me to talk about that specific issue. Assignments is kind of the next phase of the operation. Once we get the the evaluation piece, the next thing I'm going to turn my attention to is the assignments process and make sure we're putting the right people in the right places with the right skill sets to do the things that are the priority for the administration for the department. So, that is something we're going to take a very close look at.
▶ 0:26:51Extending tours is something we're going to discuss. Everything is on the table at this point. As I keep telling my staff, everything is on the table. Let's talk about everything, and then we'll come to the right answer and make sure that we're doing what's in the best interest of the the Foreign Service and of the American people. And what are you doing currently to improve FSO retention? Are there any changes in the FSA structure that would make it easier for the State Department to retain FSOs?
▶ 0:27:17I think there are things we can do to encourage Foreign Service officers to stay in. One of the things that I'm looking at is how our positions are graded and make sure that we're giving people opportunities. As we identify these folks that are really performing well, we give them leadership opportunities earlier in their careers to allow them to take on these roles and to develop their skill sets to the benefit of not only themselves, but also of the And are you seeing any current staffing issues in the Foreign Service?
▶ 0:27:46Specifically, you know, are there regions or missions today where insufficient Foreign Service staffing is directly undermining our influence or strategic interests? Well, we've always got posts that are difficult to staff. These are some of the places that are in the most difficult places in the world. And those places will continue to be difficult to staff. One of the things we're doing is we're working with the regional bureaus to give them the opportunity to identify positions that are key to the policy. And some of those may be in some of these difficult to staff locations.
▶ 0:28:17And we're going to fill those first to make sure we get people out to the places that are the highest priority for the department. Thank you. I yield back. Representative Meeks, ranking member Thank you. Let me start out by saying I'm a big fan of our foreign and civil service officers. I travel around the world. I see them. I talk to them.
▶ 0:28:42I just what they do for and represent the United States of in a big way all around the world. I I I salute them in a very, very big way. And so I'm not questioning them at all. What I do question is some of the political decisions that have been made, particularly when we talk about the current situation.
▶ 0:29:12So, the war began on February 28th. Iranian retaliation against the United States and allied assets were entirely predictable. President Trump, in routine fashion this week, tried to deflect many of his failings as commander-in-chief. He should have known that Iran would retaliate because Iran attacked Iraq and just last June after the June strikes. It should not have been a surprise.
▶ 0:29:40Yet, the department did not issue a clear depart now message until March the 2nd. By which point commercial travel options were already severely severely So that delay created confusion and left Americans with fewer options to get out. I had phone calls coming almost every day from constituents, from members asking could I help get their people out?
▶ 0:30:12So let me let me just start with current guidance. What is the current travel advisory for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain? Thank you for that question. The current travel advisory for those locations is a level three travel advisory, but it also includes the language within the travel advisory that there is an ongoing conflict and we advise people not to travel there.
▶ 0:30:43So it's basically a reconsider travel, That is currently what it says and and again it includes the language that advises people of the current situation that there is an ongoing conflict and we advise them not to travel there. So meanwhile though only in Iraq and Lebanon are designated do not travel. And both were at that level before the war even began.
▶ 0:31:07Now given that these countries have been and remain targets of Iranian missiles and drone attacks why you know yeah the Bahrain officials have are coming to Congress now to say that they're under constant attack and they may need more defensive weapons. Uh we see what's taking place with our embassy in Saudi Arabia.
▶ 0:31:30Uh we know that the UAE uh has been under attack as well as So why has the department not updated these advisories to what it is in Iraq and Lebanon do not travel? Well the situations in Iraq and Lebanon existed long before the current uh And those travel warnings have been in place for a considerable amount of time.
▶ 0:31:55The fact that we haven't updated any of the others is due to the fact that we believe this is a temporary situation. This is an ongoing operation, but at some point it will end and when it does end the travel in those areas will once again be relatively safe under the restriction of please pay attention, please be aware of the current conditions in these locations as we've instructed people now. We tell people there's an ongoing conflict.
▶ 0:32:20Well we don't know when it's going to end So we know that uh the Iranians and Americans could be subject to uh danger at any time because we know that these places are being struck now. So at least while the danger is there it seems to me there should be a change in advisory so that we don't have to worry about American citizens being caught in this war. And there should be a change.
▶ 0:32:51I I would find it difficult to believe that any American citizen in the region doesn't understand what's going on there right now and anyone that's planning to go to the region doesn't understand the situation that they would be putting themselves in. Well many are calling me now because they've had planned for trips And they're looking at they just go to the State Department and look at what the uh uh what is being what this what the designation has been.
▶ 0:33:16And when they see you know consider reconsider travel they start ask because they some of them had put money up a thing. Is it safe? They're calling try to figure out. If they saw do not travel number one for many that then will give them the ability to get out of some arrangements that they may have committed to financially and otherwise uh because many of their contracts will include that in there that in the case of those kinds of threats.
▶ 0:33:46But if there's nothing of that nature uh they either go because they're paid for etc. Uh and if we don't want if we want to avoid uh having the same kind of situation that we have shouldn't we and we can anticipate shouldn't we um plan ahead of time as opposed to afterwards for example?
▶ 0:34:07And my question before February 28th was there any coordinated interagency uh conducted to prepare for the protection and potential evacuation of American citizens in the region before February 28th? Uh sir I'm not at liberty to discuss the planning process within the upper levels of the State Department in this setting.
▶ 0:34:29I'd be happy to take that offline with Okay I think the American people would like to know but what about why was the consumer counselor affairs led task uh not stood up prior to the outbreak of The way we operate task forces within the State Department is when a crisis occurs we stand up a task force directed at that specific event.
▶ 0:34:54In this case the counselor affairs task force stood up very very quickly and we were able to staff it very quickly and begin reaching out to individuals in the region. We encourage everybody who travels overseas to enroll in our STEP program because what that will allow us to do is to send them messages very quickly so they can understand when a situation is changing and when a situation is emerging. So we encourage people to enroll in STEP and we began issuing STEP messages almost immediately.
▶ 0:35:22I'm out of time but it just seems to me if we know we're going to war we should have planned beforehand. Let Congress know, let make the certain rules so we could protect Americans. We don't plan beforehand then we plan to fail and put Americans at risk. I yield back. Representative Kim.
▶ 0:35:39Thank you Chairman Mast and thank you Under Secretary Evans for testifying Uh commercial diplomacy is a powerful tool for advancing our US foreign policy where delivering tangible results for and benefits to American workers and Yet uh in my travels across the Indo-Pacific in my capacity as chair of the East Asia and the Pacific subcommittee I have repeatedly seen US economic officers in our embassies who are tasked with the job
▶ 0:36:09they are not trained to execute like the commercial Uh meanwhile our uh foreign commercial service officer corps is small under-resourced and disconnected from the embassy's strategic priorities. The result is that our embassy struggle to open markets for American industry including small and mid-sized companies.
▶ 0:36:33And like my office like many other congressional offices receive emails and calls from constituent business owners uh that are operating currently abroad but they need help in navigating an uneven playing field or a discriminatory business environment but too often they don't know who the right person is, who is the go-to person and advocate for them at the uh US mission. The foreign commercial service is only present in 80 countries I understand.
▶ 0:37:03That means econ officers perform the commercial diplomacy function at two-thirds of our embassies and consulates. So can you differentiate between the role of a foreign service econ officer at the State and the role of a foreign commercial service officer at the Uh thank you for that question and this is an important conversation. Our econ officers in the past have been trained to do economic reporting.
▶ 0:37:32That's what they've been trained to do and that's what they've been sent out to our posts to do. Now we are shifting to a situation where commercial diplomacy is our policy. So we're working very closely with our econ officers to make sure that they have the skill sets to go out there and do that commercial diplomacy. Our foreign commercial service colleagues are fantastic. They're really good at what they do. And we're working very closely with them to make sure that our econ officers out at posts can have those same skill sets and perform those same functions.
▶ 0:38:02the the um the steps that a foreign service econ officer would take to resolve an issue that is pertaining to an unfair business regulation abroad discriminating against American businesses and you talk about uh equipping them with the right resources and even the authority to be able to mitigate those disputes and step in and make the decisions right there and then without having to go through so many steps at the top and get back down to uh you know settling the issue.
▶ 0:38:30Could you walk us through that steps? No exactly that is exactly what we're trying to do. We're trying to equip our economic officers with the ability to assess a situation to understand the regulations in the countries that they're in so that they can assist American businesses. It's some of our econ officers are really really good at this and some of them are still still learning how to do this type of thing. But they are learning and we're becoming very very effective at it.
▶ 0:38:56So to equip everybody at the level that we really need to have them the full diplomatic uh authority what additional tools or interagency mechanisms does the State Department need to empower FSOs to more effectively advocate for American businesses including those small and mid-size businesses uh that are trying to gain uh market access or navigate those challenging business environment Yeah that's something I'll have to come back with you on on the specific authorities that would need to
▶ 0:39:26be able to do that but it is something that we're going to look very closely at and make sure that we are training and equipping our our economic officers to perform the the uh commercial diplomacy function. Uh we are in a strategic competition with the United States and China is way ahead of us in every domain from AI to cyberspace to Arctic and space space.
▶ 0:39:46So, foreign service must be prepared to upskill FSOs and I know we're having this conversation, but we really need to hone in on technical expertise and fluency including the cultural understanding. So, I know your Foreign Service Institute which I visited when it was first being opened or uh you know, I I think it was 2 years ago or something.
▶ 0:40:08So, but I know they're really focused on language skills, cultural understanding that is really needed in our FSOs uh to ensure America remains the partner of choice and have the competitive edge. Competitive edge also includes understanding their culture, their you know, being able to uh dialogue in the language where they are currently servicing.
▶ 0:40:30So, can you talk about how the uh department prioritizes these uh resources and set clear benchmarks to build expertise in emerging domains like AI, space, cyberspace and what additional authorities uh or support do you need from Congress so that it can be more impactful? No, thank you.
▶ 0:40:49The National Foreign Affairs Training Center is an amazing organization and in addition to the language training that you mentioned and the cultural training that you mentioned, we do do a whole plethora of skills training to make sure that our officers have the skills they need before they go out to post. So, that is something that we do out there at NFATC and it's something we're going to continue to focus on. We're going to continue to put resources into to make sure we can address these things. Thank you very much. My time's up. I yield Gentlewoman's time has expired.
▶ 0:41:18I now recognize the ranking member of the Middle East and North Africa subcommittee, gentleman from California, Mr. Sherman for 5 minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman or acting chairman of this full committee. We just had a hearing at the Middle East subcommittee on these subjects. Uh the title was similar, uh merit, accountability, uh and performance at uh State and we had the head of the Human Resources Bureau.
▶ 0:41:44And uh of course our subcommittee has uh uh jurisdiction in this area. Um I hope that this full committee would have a hearing on Iran and uh have government witnesses there. I pointed out at that hearing that the State Department needs people with business backgrounds, MBAs, CPAs and rarely hires them because you've got to manage the State Department itself and you have to deal with business and trade issues.
▶ 0:42:15Our witness today is the counterpoint to my comments, not only an MBA, but a degree in accounting. Um I hope you're not rare at the State Department, but I believe you are. Um we discussed how the Foreign Service is privileged over the Civil Service with regard to US uh uh positions and we particularly discussed how while in private enterprise the most valuable asset is your employees we
▶ 0:42:45went in and dodged a bunch of employees at the State Department but we didn't fire people based on who was a good performer. We fired them based on what position they happened to have that particular day and of course a lot of people rotate in the State Department. It's kind of like musical chairs as to where you sit. If you happen to sit in the wrong place, you were fired no matter how good a performer you were. So, our hearing uh dealt uh with a lot of important issues and those who are focused on this hearing may want to look at the transcript of that.
▶ 0:43:15I want to focus uh with our witness on the uh discrimination that is faced by those uh who are told, "Well, because your ancestors come from a particular part of the world, you have an assignment restriction." Now, I can understand an assignment restriction if you know, your father is in jail in a particular country for political reasons and uh uh that's a pressure point that could be used against you.
▶ 0:43:43But, what I can't understand is why we would not use the valuable linguistic and cultural knowledge that the American population uh provides. Um we still have uh people who have who are suffering under these restrictions uh who top secret security clearances.
▶ 0:44:06So, they're trusted with the most valuable information just not about the part of the world that they actually know something about or have a linguistic and cultural knowledge of. Um do we still restrict people based on their ethnic heritage as to where they can work and what issues they can work Well, thank you for that question. We currently do not have blanket restrictions as you're describing. What we do is we assess each individual based on where they wish to to be assigned.
▶ 0:44:35So, we don't have a blanket like this
▶ 0:44:37blanket, but I've talked to quite a number of people who said, "Well, my my parents or grandparents are from East Asia, so they won't let me work on East Asia." Do you still have that situation?
▶ 0:44:48It is much deeper than that. We do a full assessment of the officer and of their family connections to make sure that there is nothing that would compromise them if they were to focus on
▶ 0:44:58anyone who doesn't have relatives in a country where it might be oppressed who is told uh that they can't work on particular issues? Uh I don't know of any specific cases where that has happened, but I'm happy to take that up.
▶ 0:45:10the patriotism of people based upon what country their ancestors are from?
▶ 0:45:14Absolutely not. Americans are Americans. Okay. Uh in 2025, how many uh officers working on Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations and Bureau of Diplomatic uh left due to firings, riffs, dodges, et cetera. Do you know? Uh there were very few. Um I know in Diplomatic Security we we terminated zero diplomatic security special agents.
▶ 0:45:42Uh there were some administrative staff that were uh involved in some of the reductions. Now, the you contract with people to provide services. You owe $600 million for work already performed. Uh what are you doing to make sure that your contractors are getting paid? We have a very robust review process and we are making sure that all of our contractors who have performed legitimate work for the department are being appropriately compensated. But, uh the delays are greater now than they were 2 years ago in those payments?
▶ 0:46:12Uh I don't have the the statistics on that. I can't say that. Well, I would hope that you would have statistics as to your total accounts payable and how many of those accounts payable are uh more than 30, 60, 90 days old. So, would you provide that for the committee? Be happy to find that out. Yes.
▶ 0:46:27Thank you. Gentleman's time has expired. I now recognize Representative Moylan for 5 minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Under Secretary, thank you for your statement. Especially like one of the answers to the questions regarding how you improved on the evaluations. That's really helpful and as an Army veteran myself, uh I understand that mission clarity is so important to morale uh recruitment and how we retain our officers.
▶ 0:46:54Uh our Foreign Affairs uh service officers deserve to understand uh how the work contributes to national security and our diplomats are are the frontliners frontliners I I consider uh encountering Chinese influence abroad. Uh they serve as diverse and critical roles and act as commercial or economic diplomats, intelligence collectors and negotiators, too.
▶ 0:47:19And without the FSOs, we lose influence abroad to the PRC and other adversaries. Um so, Mr. Evans you touched on this a little, but further clarify what makes an economic officer different from a Treasury attaché or a Foreign Commercial Service Officer? And what responsibilities do we expect of our economic officers? Well, thank you for that question.
▶ 0:47:47As I mentioned earlier, our economic officers have been trained to do economic reporting. They haven't had a whole lot of training on on the economic commercial diplomacy piece that we are now shifting to. This is a relatively new development within our service and we're working very hard to make sure that our economic officers do have that skill set. Many of them do. Many of them when they go out to post are put in situations where they have to figure this out and they do an outstanding job. Our our Foreign Service Officers are some of the best and brightest out there.
▶ 0:48:17And especially our economic officers who go through years of economic training to be able to become an economic officer. So, we have the ability to to really train these folks and make sure that they have the skill sets to do what they need to do alongside our Foreign Commercial Service Officers. Okay.
▶ 0:48:33And as we're recruiting for for cones in the Foreign Services, uh is there is it a standard standardized uh FSOT sufficient to determine the success as a political, economical or other Well, thank you. We recruit generalists. So, when we bring people into the Foreign Service, I myself am a Foreign Service generalist. I'm a management cone officer.
▶ 0:48:57But, all of our all of our folks that come in through that channel are generalists and are able to reach across the span of all of the things that we do and the reason we do that is because as we rise up through the organization, we truly need to understand what the entire organization does. I as a management officer need to understand what the political folks are doing, what the public diplomacy folks are doing in order to do my job more effectively. And then as I take on leadership positions, I need to be able to direct those different tasks.
▶ 0:49:26So, we bring in folks as generalists. Uh at the same time if people come in with specific skills and abilities, we try to put them in positions where they can use those skills and abilities. So, if come someone comes in with an economic background, we'd like to put them in an econ position. They usually choose to become economic officers. So, we like to put them in those positions and give them that opportunity to use that skill set. Sounds like the army. Everybody's an infantry officer from the start. Okay.
▶ 0:49:51And then section 207 gives the chiefs of mission authority over executive branch personnel at post. It's in critical regions like the Indo-Pacific, that authority and consensus is essential. Are there any challenges across the inter-agencies to that authority?
▶ 0:50:11As you mentioned, the chief of mission has full authority in each one of their countries. They are the president's personal representative to that country and they have full authority to manage their missions. All inter-agency partners, with the exception of military members who are under a combatant commander, are under the chief of mission and they understand that and I know of no situations where we've got folks from other agencies trying to work against the chief of mission. The chief of mission has the ultimate authority and the decisions they make are what happens.
▶ 0:50:43Thank you for accepting your position. I'm glad you're there and let me know how I can assist you. Thank you so much.
▶ 0:50:48Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The gentleman yields. I now recognize the gentleman from California, Representative Bera, for 5 minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um You know, Under Secretary, in your opening statement, um you said something that I'd absolutely agree with. The Foreign Service is the backbone of American diplomacy and its officers represent our nation's values and interests across the globe. Um You know, Mr.
▶ 0:51:16Lawler from New York also talked about the importance of our Foreign Service officers. I've traveled with many members in this committee as well as our colleagues on both the Democratic and Republican side and understand the real value that our Foreign Service officers provide. You know, both um managing our CODELs, but also in combat zones, in tough environments, building relationships and so forth.
▶ 0:51:40That's why what happened at the beginning of the Trump administration was deeply disappointing to me and deeply concerning to me and I think weakens our foreign policy and our ability to project strength across the world. General Mattis, who I um deeply admire, um President Trump's first Secretary of Defense, put it succinctly that yes, we need a strong um Department of Defense, Department of War, whatever you want to call it, but we also need equally strong um diplomacy tools and development tools.
▶ 0:52:10Right now, that those two legs are extremely In the reduction in force that took place last year, over 1,300 um State Department employees were let go, including um it's reported 240 to 260 Foreign Service officers. Um To date, um we have not been given information and our job as Congress is to oversight on how those decisions were made. Mr.
▶ 0:52:38Chairman alluded to programs were let go, so then the individuals in those programs were let go. That is a total haphazard process cuz those individuals may have been extremely successful folks that just happened to be in a program that was being closed. They weren't reassigned. They weren't reevaluated.
▶ 0:52:58Can you commit to us that you will share with us how decisions were made, whether they were We were told they were based on merit, but we've seen no evidence as to whether those reductions of Foreign Service officers were made based on merit. Will you commit to sharing that information with this committee? I'll thank you for that question. I'd be happy to take that back and we'll give you the information. Yes.
▶ 0:53:20Okay, because again, these you know, everyone talks about the respective career individuals, the respective Foreign Service officers, the jobs that they've done. Um I may disagree with um some of the reorganization, but I also understand the need to modernize um the federal government and what that looks like. It is extremely important that we retain human capital. Historically, we've had pretty high vacancies in our Foreign Service ranks. I think today it's about 13% vacancies.
▶ 0:53:50So, it does take a long time to recruit folks, train them up as you said they're coming in as generalists, to build up that experience. In January, we saw um 30 career ambassadors um recalled primarily out of Asia and Africa. Um again, I would like to get a sense of you know, we've got a lot of ambassador vacancies right now. We have multiple conflicts around the world.
▶ 0:54:15The rationale behind those recalls and again, we can blame the Senate for being slow on confirmations. Um I've got my issues with the Senate as But that weakens us around the world. Would you agree with that to have these vacancies of our top diplomats? What I can tell you is as you know, ambassadors are the personal representative of the president and the president can decide to recall ambassadors whenever he sees fit to do so. So, I believe that's what happened in this case.
▶ 0:54:44I also can tell you that we have some of our most experienced Foreign Service officers out leading those missions where we don't currently have an ambassador and I feel very comfortable with those people can can lead those missions effectively. Okay. And I disagree with the president's decision to take us to war with Iran. Um Outside of that, you know, I watch our men and women um in the military execute the decisions that they're handed um and they've done that extremely well. Again, I disagree with the decision.
▶ 0:55:14What I worry about though is the what next. When this conflict ends, when um we try to keep stability in Venezuela, we need our best development and diplomatic officers on the ground and I think right now we've hollowed out those two institutions by the reduction in force and and so forth. I would like us to prioritize re-hiring um those folks that may have inadvertently been reduced or laid off.
▶ 0:55:41If they're willing to come back, I don't know that many of them are willing to come back with how they were treated. Um unfortunately, those are folks that were mid-career often who would be the next generation of um our our um lead diplomats and so forth and I do think it will take us a generation to regain that workplace talent. So, with that I yield back. The gentleman yields. I now recognize Representative Self, the chair of the Europe Subcommittee, for 5 minutes.
▶ 0:56:11Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman. Secretary Evans, thank you so much for being here. I want to start off with I really appreciate the mission focus uh that uh the State Department has emphasized. Uh but this is this is process and I want uh to echo my colleagues' concerns because as chairman of the Europe Subcommittee, I get asked all the time uh about the president's personal representative, i.e. ambassadors.
▶ 0:56:41So, I've met with dozens of delegations uh from Europe and they are they always express concern about the empty ambassador posts. Uh they've
▶ 0:56:54They have stressed to me that they want to hear from the president personally. They want to have an ambassador there. Uh I actually uh put in an amendment on the State Department reauthorization uh requesting uh priority for a US ambassador to Moldova because of the in light of the Russian interference in their election.
▶ 0:57:17Uh so, I just want to emphasize to you the importance of now that we're through that process, now we need to have presence uh in in uh particularly in Europe. And while I understand that you have a chargé that uh that does represent the president, I will I want to convey to you that the Europeans would like to have a personal representative of the president on station. So, to that end, we have uh no nominee for Germany.
▶ 0:57:47We have no nominee for Russia, two major countries. Uh Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, and Bosnia have no nominees. Uh and these people would like to have the president's personal representative. We have nominees pending in Hungary, Iceland, Norway, uh Slovenia, Cyprus, and uh and frankly, President Trump has removed uh holdover ambassadors from Montenegro, Slovakia, North Macedonia, and Armenia.
▶ 0:58:16So, there are there are That's a significant list of European nations that uh that need to have uh ambassadors. So, I I would just ask you to take that back. That uh and I'd like appreciate any comments because that's a significant number of our closest allies, NATO and and EU uh partners that do not have ambassadors. Uh thank you for that comment.
▶ 0:58:43I will certainly take that back and you know, as as I mentioned, as you know, the the president decides when and where to send ambassadors. When he makes the decision to send somebody out there, we are more than happy to get them out there as quickly as possible. Well, I can I certainly interact with my European delegations that come in, but I am not the ambassador of the United States and they would like to have one. So, I thank you. So, now, when we get to the chargés, how many of those are holdovers in Europe? Because uh we want to this process to work.
▶ 0:59:13Do Do we have America first chargés if we don't have an ambassador? How many of these are holdovers? I'll have to go back and get that exact statistic for you. I know that as we rotate through our normal cycle, a lot of those folks have already cycled out from their previous administrations. So, we're in a situation where I think we have good leadership at the places where we need to have good leadership, but I'll be happy to go back and get that exact number for you.
▶ 0:59:38Yeah, I would I would appreciate that because this is my main concern at when when I talk about the Foreign Service in Europe is getting ambassadors in place. Uh with that I want to Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank you. Thank you, Representative Self. I now recognize Representative Jacobs, the ranking member of the Africa Subcommittee for 5 minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:00:04Um Under Secretary, I want to discuss this administration's plan to keep Americans safe ahead of the president's reckless war in Iran. On Saturday, February 28th, President Trump launched coordinated airstrikes with Israel into Iran totaling nearly 900 strikes in 12 hours and creating chaos in the region. As the Under Secretary for Management, you are in charge of the safety of Americans when they're abroad and the security of State Department personnel. So, first I want to ask you a very simple question.
▶ 1:00:34When the United States is about to initiate military action in a region where American citizens are present, does the State Department typically begin evacuation planning before or after the first bombs drop? Thank you for that question. I can tell you that we are always in a planning mode when we're in a situation. All of our embassies have emergency action plans in place. They review those plans constantly and as tensions rise in a certain region, they pay very close attention to those plans.
▶ 1:01:04So, we do have plans in place for any eventuality. It could be a military action. It could be a natural disaster, but we do have plans in place to be able to effectively take care of our people and take care of American citizens.
▶ 1:01:15Thank you. As someone who worked at the State Department, I know that the answer is that planning is always done before a conflict erupts. Even in cases where we have no actual control over the conflict and in this case, the United States initiated this war of choice. So, typically we plan in advance, we would notify people in advance. In the case of Iran, were you personally aware of the United States plan to strike? Uh as I mentioned before, I really don't want to discuss the
▶ 1:01:44Okay, so you can't tell me whether you knew that the US was about to strike. Under Secretary, this should be pretty straightforward. We were all following the news about the US military buildup in the region and reports that the administration was deciding on military action in Iran and even Secretary Rubio had warned of the risk of of Iranian retaliation against US interests in the region. So, we typically prepare for evacuations beforehand.
▶ 1:02:07All common sense tells us that you knew that the US was preparing for war in Iran earlier and just now you said you can't say in this setting whether you started planning on or before February 28th, but the bigger question is why did it take until March 2nd, 3 days into this war, for the Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs, Mora Namdar, to post on X for Americans to depart now using available commercial transportation from 14 countries? We were working through our processes.
▶ 1:02:37Our step messaging began immediately. It did not, Under Secretary. By March 2nd, most commercial flights in the region had stopped. You told Americans to use transportation that no longer existed. I can tell you personally that the step messaging didn't say that because my aunt and uncle live in Israel and were trying to leave and they did not get any messages from the State Department until March 2nd. So, to recap, you knew that you planned beforehand and you had the information to do the planning and clearly none of the planning actually took place.
▶ 1:03:04And just to put this in context, um in August of 2021, when Kabul fell, the State Department faced justified bipartisan criticism including from myself for failing to evacuate American citizens and Afghan allies fast enough. Republicans on this committee, many still serving, called it a catastrophic failure of planning and they were right. The Department should have been better prepared for a deteriorating situation even one that moved faster than expected.
▶ 1:03:31But Afghanistan was a withdrawal from a 20-year war in a country where the government collapsed faster than anyone in the intelligence community predicted and the administration did not choose the timing of the Taliban's advance. Iran is the The administration chose to start the war. It chose the date. It chose the targets. It had weeks of military buildup. Secretary Rubio himself warned of the risk of Iranian retaliation. Every signal available said Americans in the region are in danger.
▶ 1:03:56Given that the administration had full control over the why was it that in Afghanistan, the first evacuation flights left within 48 hours of the Taliban entering Kabul? In Iran, it took 3 days for the Department to even post a depart now notice. And by then, commercial flights had stopped. In Afghanistan, the military ran a massive airlift. In Iran, stranded Americans were told not to rely on their own government for help. That is what your own recorded hotline said.
▶ 1:04:24Why is it that we were unprepared to evacuate Americans on a crisis that we started and we were more prepared for to evacuate Americans from Afghanistan in a crisis that we didn't start? I would not say we were not prepared. I believe we were prepared. We began doing land operations to move people out of harm's way as quickly as possible even while the airspace was closed in these areas. So, we were
▶ 1:04:49Mr. Under Secretary, the phone calls I'm getting from my constituents, the amount of my constituents I still have stranded in the region, my own family that's still stranded in the region, tells me that whatever planning you did was complete because Americans are still stranded there and your department did not keep them safe. Mr. Chairman, I yield back. I would just note the withdrawal in Afghanistan was date certain by the Biden administration.
▶ 1:05:14So, they did have a date of withdrawal which was part of the problem and why the whole situation collapsed and deteriorated.
▶ 1:05:22withdrawal negotiated by your president, President Trump.
▶ 1:05:25No, that was Joe Biden that issued the date certain withdrawal by September 11th because he wanted to be out by the 20th anniversary and that date certain is what caused the catastrophic collapse because they did not do it based on the conditions on the ground. I now recognize the gentleman from Tennessee, Representative Burchett, for 5 minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Sir, the two great things I think the State is promoting now and should promote are capitalism and democracy.
▶ 1:05:55I think we we've kind of made a a mess of that in the last 4 years. Nobody can pick it up under the Trump administration. I think we are with the I can't imagine us showing our strength in another country by uh talking about transgenderism and then all this demonic nonsense that we seem to be wanting to put out. So, I salute y'all for trying to correct that.
▶ 1:06:22how is the Foreign Service planning to align its diplomatic priorities with US national security interest?
▶ 1:06:30Thank you. That is a very good question and I appreciate the opportunity to talk about this. Sir, you'll get nowhere by complimenting me. You need to start out by insulting me. That usually works better for people like me.
▶ 1:06:41I'll come back to that later.
▶ 1:06:42But thank you, brother. Uh no, I I appreciate the opportunity. we are currently working through our Bureau Strategic Plan within the State Department which will very closely align with the National Security Strategy and the President's Management Agenda. We're using those two documents as the basis for what we're doing within the State Department. And as we plan through the department and work down through our Bureau Strategic Plans, our Agency Strategic Plans, and our different office plans, we're using those as the framework.
▶ 1:07:08So, we're very closely aligning what our future planning looks like with the President's priorities. One of the things I like about the Trump administration is the transparency we're seeing. Um as but how is the State Department ensuring that the Foreign Service Selection Boards are operating based on merit and being fully Thank you again for that question. We have made some adjustments to the Foreign Service Selection process. We're basing it on merit. That is what we're doing.
▶ 1:07:34We've rewritten the Foreign Service Officer Test to focus on judgment and skills, make it a more of a skills-based assessment. We've removed the sort of narrative what if questions and we're really focusing on can somebody perform the job? Are they able to demonstrate the judgment that is required to be a Foreign Service Officer? Because at the end of the day, that's what we hire for hire people for. We hire people for their judgment. Skills can be taught. Judgment is something that you have to come with. So, that's what we're really looking for.
▶ 1:08:02I have a saying about coaches or people in general, just put the best player in, coach. I like that idea, brother. Um what changes need to be made to the evaluation system to make it more merit-based and rigorous? Or I guess you've already made those, but if you could reiterate those again. Uh certainly happy [snorts] to happy to talk through it.
▶ 1:08:21Um what we're doing is we're going to evaluate each individual officer against the core precepts, the things that we've defined that are important for success in the Foreign So, and we're going to assign a score to each one of those things and we're going to rank people. And what we're also going to do is we're going to hold supervisors accountable. If supervisors decide that every one of their direct reports is a superstar and gives everybody a five, then that's going to look poorly upon that supervisor.
▶ 1:08:49We actually expect them to rank people. People that come in every day and do an outstanding job, that's what we expect. That's the norm. People that do exceptional work, those are a little bit higher and then the true superstars are going to be a little bit higher than that, which will allow us to truly identify the people that are doing the best work within the department and give them the leadership opportunities and the promotion opportunities and the assignment opportunities to put them in the places where we can best utilize their skill sets.
▶ 1:09:16Now, how are y'all holding those Foreign Service personnel We're absolutely holding people accountable. Um as as some of you may know, over the past few years we have not been low ranking personnel. The personnel that don't perform have not been low ranked or recommended for selection out. We're going to start doing that again so that we can identify the people through this process of evaluation we can identify our officers that aren't quite meeting the mark.
▶ 1:09:46And the first step in that process is to work with that person to see if we can develop the skill sets that they're lacking to bring them up to speed. And if we get to a situation where that person is just not right for the foreign service then we'll make a different decision. But we are really looking very closely about not only the top end of the evaluation process but the bottom You know, in pro sports you see these millionaire ball players won't go into all that but they um when they do a good play make a good play they get a star on the back of their helmet.
▶ 1:10:15It's and that's that's something that they pride themselves on. Um are the are the promotions that you all have are they competitive? Uh promotions are competitive but through this evaluation process they're going to be even more competitive and they're going to be based on actual data as opposed to a subjective uh look at their their you know writing essay contest exercise that that they perform to write in what they think they did.
▶ 1:10:40We're actually going to have numbers assigned and we're going to be able to actually rack and stack people and determine who really is performing Mr. Chairman I yield back negative two Thank you. Representative Burchett I now recognize Representative Castro for five minutes. Thank you very much Mr.
▶ 1:10:57Chairman members of the committee um many of us uh as part of our role and responsibility in this committee travel throughout the world meeting with our some of our best and brightest in our embassies and and offices that are in posts as you noted from your own comments difficult posts to fill.
▶ 1:11:21And of course I think we all make a distinction political appointments of ambassadors and appointments of career service people in parts of the world that are dangerous difficult and needing to have the background and experience and language and culture that is critical for that post that they are that they are serving.
▶ 1:11:45I think many of us on a bipartisan basis have very concerns with the hollowing out that's occurred in the last year of the State Department. Um you have or your counterparts with the reduction in force have dismissed over 1,350 employees uh last Um I think the readiness for our needs in the Middle East have been exposed.
▶ 1:12:09You fired Arabic and Farsi department uh Uh these are not easy to replace to have people who have the expertise in in the languages necessary. You've taken staff from passport services management fraud prevention and IT services. And these are core functions of the Bureau of of Consular Affairs particularly in urgent crisis like now with this war in Iran.
▶ 1:12:35And despite some of that treatment some of these public servants still sought to help thousands of Americans who were left stranded in the Middle East but were rejected. Um I'd like to enter into the record uh unanimous consent a CNN article entitled a shell of its former self how Trump and Musk spending cuts are hampering our US government readiness mid the Iran war. Without objection Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:13:05Thank you. Uh without uh So ordered. Thank you. Um So has the department uh conducted any analysis since the last summer to assess the workforce impact on the reduction uh in force that were made uh for the department's readiness? Uh thank you for that question. Uh as you know the reorganization was done in order to help streamline the organization to help reduce redundancies and to help us really focus on the the priorities.
▶ 1:13:34No, we understand what the purpose is. That wasn't my question. Have you conducted an analysis of what that has has done? We are in the process of Will you share that information with the committee when you finish that? W- when we do the analysis yes. Has the department conducted any assessment of the cost to the taxpayers of losing talented public servants in which we have invested that have been with the department for 10 15 20 years? Uh we have not done that assessment no.
▶ 1:14:04I suggest you take a look at that. You know, I was reading in December the American Foreign Service Association released a report that 98% of its members reported a declining morale in the department and 86% said the department's administrative changes affected their ability to carry out US diplomatic priorities. I mean right now in the middle of this war uh one of my colleagues noted a a moment ago the lack of ambassadors in those posts.
▶ 1:14:34And and the fact that in other places there there are not even nominees that have been assigned by the president for those Don't you think that's a problem? Uh as I mentioned in these areas specifically in the Middle East we have some of our most experienced foreign service officers who have experience in the region out there as our charge d'affaires managing the situation. So I feel like we're in very good hands.
▶ 1:15:01Well I've received information that says otherwise uh and in fact with people that have have the language skill sets and the necessity to deal with uh diplomatic um resolution um we're simply lacking the the the core of of what in the past has been I think a spree decor of members of the State Department. I think it's a real problem.
▶ 1:15:32Well, I can tell you that as far as morale goes within the department I walk around HST every day. I talk to a lot of people both foreign service civil service contractors everybody that works for us. And everybody I see is committed to the mission of the department. I understand there are 250 members of the foreign service who were given reduction in notice on July 11th last year. They're still on administrative leave. What's that about?
▶ 1:15:59Uh that is an ongoing process and I prefer not to discuss that at this Well, uh Mr. Chairman my time's expired but I think that frankly it uh is the burden of proof that uh you carry to determine whether or not we have the people in the right place to do the difficult challenge that we're faced with today. And I think that you've got to do a better job of making your case. Yield back to The gentleman's time has expired. I now recognize Representative Baird for five Thank you Mr.
▶ 1:16:30Chairman and uh thank you Mr. Under Secretary for being here. We appreciate it. Uh you know um and you well know that technology is rapidly advancing across the globe. There's a necessity for our diplomatic corps to have technical knowledge about emerging technologies like artificial intelligence quantum computing next generation communications and more. And you know our principal adversary understands the significance of implementing technology through diplomacy.
▶ 1:16:58The digital Silk Road and the digital counterpart of the Belt and Road initiative was launched to enhance partner nation adoption of Chinese technology. The United States has to prioritized training diplomats to counter China's embedding of communist technology into the global and supply chains.
▶ 1:17:19And you know as a member of the Committee for Space Science and Technology I recognize the importance of artificial intelligence uh being responsibly integrated into our government systems. So my question is uh what's the current status in your opinion and how successful have you been of implementing the State Department's State Chat? And what kind of setbacks may you have had or not? Uh thank you for that question.
▶ 1:17:47I'm glad to have the opportunity to talk about Uh State Chat is the State Department's AI that we use within the department. It is a contained system. It is not open to the internet so it is controlled that way we can control our information. It is a very strong and robust tool that we use for things like translations for research. One of the areas where it has been especially helpful is on our FOIA requests.
▶ 1:18:11We've been able to use AI to help us respond much more quickly to FOIA requests and get information out the doors quickly as possible. So we are looking for opportunities to use AI where it makes sense to do so and where it doesn't expose our information. You know uh but in that in that same the same vein uh that system is really um uh not for classified information. It's sensitive but unclassified information. Is that correct? That is correct.
▶ 1:18:41So how do you how do you think we ought to do we have a system then to do classified information as well? Uh we do not at this time but we're looking at developing something. We don't have anything in place at this point. I I well, I think that would be important too and I'm sure you do too you got you got things that ought to be classified and other things that need to be communicated so Could right along that same vein could you give me some idea why you think the State Department's uh thought we
▶ 1:19:11ought to do an in-house uh AI system rather than than purchasing something that's Yeah, the certainly we we did purchase a commercial tool. Oh. And then we brought that in house so that it we don't we're not exposing our data to the wider broader internet. So we are using a commercial tool within the State Super. [snorts] You know, I want to I want to go into another area.
▶ 1:19:38You know, there's currently over 90 ambassadorships that are vacant. And not accounting for vacancies that have a nominee currently being considered in the So the confirmation process is strenuous and rightfully requires proper vetting of course. However, it's important to President Trump's foreign policy agenda is represented by politically trusted So instead of career bureaucrats.
▶ 1:20:03So what could Congress do to reform in the ambassador confirmation process to expedite the chief's submission being that represent the incumbent president's Well, thank you for that question. I believe the confirmation process as you mentioned is long and arduous. I've been through it myself to get this position. So I'm familiar with with what it takes to get through there. I think if we can streamline the process in any way as far as the information and the vetting and that type of thing that would be very helpful.
▶ 1:20:32I I agree that the quicker we can get ambassadors out into the field once the president determines that this is the person that he wants out there. The quicker we can do that the better off we're all going to be. Thank you. Appreciate your answers and I yield back. The gentleman yields. I now recognize Representative Olshansky for 5 minutes. Thank you Mr. Chairman and I I thank our witness.
▶ 1:20:56I actually want to pick up here where my colleague Representative Costa left off things and talking about needless firings and RIFs. Maryland's no stranger to the Trump administration needlessly firing people. We've lost 25,000 hardworking, dedicated, and talented employees in Maryland who were fired last year. But I want to focus more on your area of Mr. Evans.
▶ 1:21:26Because I I do want to follow up and understand why Under Secretary Evans the the department justified RIFs across code skills while there are hundreds of FSOs in that same wide variety of skill sets available.
▶ 1:21:44I want to understand how we justify the massive taxpayer expense of the recruitment, security clearances, and training for new FS hires when 250 fully trained, cleared, and ready to work officers are immediately available and in your own words today, your own testimony, you said that as an as an field FS generalist you were quote able to reach across the span and do everything. So why weren't these why weren't these existing officers able to go after these new opportunities?
▶ 1:22:13Well, as we went through the reorganization we determined that there were some functions that the organization was performing that were not aligned with our current priorities.
▶ 1:22:22Sure, that's fine, but these are generalists. They should be able to apply for new opportunities, right?
▶ 1:22:26We eliminated those positions and in the process of doing that we eliminated the personnel that were in those positions. Without any opportunity to apply for other openings that you've now hired for. At that point yes and we have not we haven't refilled those positions. Those positions that we eliminated were eliminated. We did not refill those positions.
▶ 1:22:44But you've hired new FS you've you've hired new FSOs since. Why weren't the officers who've already gone through the training, the security clearance all out to apply for those new positions? We were bringing in new FSOs because that is the important pipeline whereby we continue the foreign service moving forward. We need to be bringing in new personnel at the bottom of the pipeline. We had a situation in a previous administration where we stopped hiring.
▶ 1:23:09And it created a a hole in the middle ranks of our And we're working to fill that by bringing in the new personnel and pushing those folks up through the system. So So it has nothing to do with the latest update to promotion and tenure where the State Department added hiring questions designed to measure quote patriotism and evaluation criteria based on fidelity. No, sir. Cuz I think these changes can undermine the foreign service's non-partisan foundation and threaten that merit-based system that has long defined professionalism.
▶ 1:23:40What's the intent then for the department with these recruitment changes? What does it seek to remedy? What we're working on is making sure that we have the best people that can perform in a merit-based system and that can represent the United States overseas. That that's it. Who can exercise good judgment as I mentioned earlier, the key factor for a foreign service officer is judgment. So we're looking for someone to come in that has judgment and then we can train them on the other things that they need. Let me ask you this.
▶ 1:24:10Do you look at applicants' political donations or political statements on social media as a factor into the hiring process in any way whatsoever? I do not believe we do that, no. Okay. Again, I I just I think my colleague was right here. It is sort of mind-boggling to me that we have dedicated public servants who have given their lives and as best I can tell have zero performance issues.
▶ 1:24:34And we're going to go through both the time and the expense of having 250 fully trained, capable, able, ready to work officers ready for immediate assignment in your own word, generalists who can do just about anything. And we're going to have them continue to sit in purgatory while we're also changing our hiring process to now include things like patriotism. However, that's defined. I will have my office follow up more.
▶ 1:25:03I'd love to learn more about this. It seems like it's not in the best interest to have folks who have been seasoned experts in the foreign affairs space to be sitting on the sideline. And it's my hope that we can get those folks back out there. I'm all for new talent and and bringing folks in as we continue to just support support the service, but it feels more like a purge of folks and and I have to wonder why. With that I yield back. The gentleman yields. I now recognize Representative Radewagen for 5 minutes.
▶ 1:25:34Talofa lava. Good morning. Thank you Mr. Chairman and and thank you Mr. Secretary for being here. I'm going to focus on the question of the staffing of our embassies and colleagues have uh echoed this the same concern, but I'm particularly concerned about the China is outcompeting us as you know in almost every single country in the In neighboring independent Samoa we have
▶ 1:26:04only 12 diplomatic staff if that. While the Chinese have a three-story building filled to the brim with staff. And that repeats itself over the entirety of the Pacific region. We don't even have a diplomatic presence in How in the world are we supposed to show the Pacific that we're committed when we're not even present? I also hear from Pacific communities on the lack of consular services in the Pacific.
▶ 1:26:33So my first question is where are the most acute foreign service staffing gaps particularly in hard to fill or high-risk posts? Well, thank you for that question and as you know we have recently stood up new embassies in a lot of those Pacific Islands and we're working very hard to staff those embassies to make sure we do have representation out there. The places where we are having the most trouble filling positions right now honestly is is in Africa. That's where we're having the most difficulty filling our positions.
▶ 1:27:03We do have people that are willing to go out to the Pacific Islands and serve in those posts. Thank you. My second question is from the perspective of US strategic competition. Are there regions or missions today and you may have answered this where insufficient foreign service staffing is directly undermining US influence or strategic interests? I feel like we're able to staff our missions.
▶ 1:27:32We do have some staffing gaps in some of our missions, but I feel like we're able to get enough people out on the field with the right skill sets and with the right support to manage the Thank you Mr. Chairman. I yield back the balance of my time. The gentle lady yields. I now recognize Representative Jackson for 5 minutes. Thank you Chairman Lawler.
▶ 1:27:59Thank you ranking member Sara Jacobs. Um thank you Mr. Evans. It has been reported by the New York Times that the US is considering withholding HIV assistance to Zambia unless the country expands its mineral access. Over the past decade Zambia has made progress in the HIV response.
▶ 1:28:23According to the UNAIDS annual HIV infections for all ages in Zambia has declined. Annual AIDS-related deaths have also declined For this administration to use life-saving assistance as a negotiating tactic to gain access to critical critical minerals I believe is both immoral and beneath the dignity and values of our country. Are you aware of the draft memo on this issue? And if so, what can you share with us?
▶ 1:28:53Well, thank you for that question, sir. Those questions are outside of my lane of responsibility. I'm I'm responsible the the management portfolio, but these would fall under the foreign assistance portfolio. So I am not involved in that process. Is there a person that you can lead me to that can give me some information? I know that many of our embassies are understaffed and unstaffed with the leadership. I'm simply trying to follow up. Yeah, I can take that back and get you that information, sir.
▶ 1:29:21Okay, and Chairman, I'd like to have this New York Times article entered into the record that reads US considers withholding HIV aid unless Zambia expands mineral Without objection, so ordered. Thank you, Mr. Evans. I would like just to make a statement for the record that to be bargaining with our dollars versus humanity, I think is probably a new low. This isn't to you, but to the administration.
▶ 1:29:51If we're trying to extract additional critical minerals versus showing our philanthropy, our true good-heartedness to try to negotiate barter over people's lives. I think we are a better nation than that, and I hope that this was can't be resolved quickly. We have a relationship with Zambia. Currently, we have visa restrictions.
▶ 1:30:13People that come from the Zambia have to spend 5, 10, or 15,000 dollars that they have to put on deposit just to even visit the United States. And while we're trying to negotiate to take more minerals out of them, we're not even being really good citizens or good human beings by withholding life-saving medicine for to continue the great work we have had a history of establishing. So, for that, I'd like to yield back my time and thank you, Mr. Evans, for your forthrightness in your answers.
▶ 1:30:42Thank Gentleman yields. I now recognize Representative Barr for 5 minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't want to put words in the mouth of my colleague, but I think he was asking you, Mr. Under Secretary, why in recruiting new foreign service officers, why you would be asking questions about patriotism and as if there would be some difficulty in defining the term patriotism.
▶ 1:31:12Why do you think, Mr. Under Secretary, that it is important to evaluate the patriotism of prospects to be um recruited into the foreign service? Now, thank you for that question.
▶ 1:31:27This is a very important As a foreign service officer, as foreign service officers, we represent the United States of America when we go It is very important that we remember that, and we remember that we represent the United States, not some other power, not some other country. So, patriotism is part of what we do. I consider myself a patriot for having served for 24 years as a foreign service officer. You most certainly are, sir, and I want to thank you for your distinguished service.
▶ 1:31:55And I'll just note in in in different administrations of different parties, when I've traveled with bipartisan codels to our various outposts and our embassies and consulates and and missions, I have been extraordinarily impressed with the patriotism, the professionalism of our foreign service. And I think it is absolutely crucial that we maintain that standard.
▶ 1:32:23I think we have outstanding diplomats everywhere I've encountered them, and I think it's altogether appropriate that this administration continue to to inculcate that that that that that culture in the State Department that we are we are about America first, and that our do carry forward that that that ethic.
▶ 1:32:46You know, um this is kind of a philosophical question, but you know, Senator Arthur famously coined the phrase politics stops at the water's edge. Um but the idea that foreign policy might be off-limits to politics is also maybe a difficult idea as well. Where do you come down? Where does Secretary Rubio, where does this administration come down on that?
▶ 1:33:09I mean, you can't just assume you can't ask foreign service personnel to just totally ignore their own political predilections. What is the what is the ethic that you that you want inculcated in our diplomats overseas with respect to that Well, thank you very much. As a foreign service officer, I have served under presidents of both parties. My job is to implement the policies of whoever's in the office.
▶ 1:33:39So, if the Secretary of State, if the President says this is the way we're going to go, that's the way we're going to go, and I have to be able to adapt and do that, and as as all foreign service officers should be able to do. As I've said many times, as a foreign service officer, we will run this direction as fast as we can go until you tell us that that's no longer the direction we're going to go.
▶ 1:33:58Let me let me be a little bit more direct. Secretary Rubio has argued that elements of the foreign service culture lack accountability and mission focus. Do you think we have a problem with mission focus in the foreign service? I wouldn't say that we have a problem. I think it's something that we need to be very careful about and we look at, and that's exactly what we're trying to get to through our reforms process and our evaluations and things like that. Okay.
▶ 1:34:26I mean, I haven't witnessed it, but I I do think that there is a concern because under President Biden, the State Department was flooded with DEI initiatives. Even to be considered eligible for promotion, an employee had to document what they had done to support DEI in their program or department. Our nation's leading foreign service training agency, the Foreign Service Institute, had over a thousand materials and at least 16 courses in its curriculum regarding DEI under the last administration.
▶ 1:34:52Thankfully, after President Trump was elected, these coercive materials and courses were reviewed and removed from the FSI. As it should be, merit was once again the defining basis for hiring and promotion. Under Secretary Evans, do you agree that merit should be the sole factor when picking and choosing who represents this country abroad?
▶ 1:35:10And And is taking this these this focus on DEI uh um is that advancing the the the the the point that you were just making that that that foreign service personnel follow the direction of the the administration, the commander-in-chief, the president in charge at that time? No, thank you very much. I appreciate that. Yes, I do believe the DEI components of what we were doing were distractions, and they didn't allow us to focus on our core mission.
▶ 1:35:38I believe now we are focused on evaluating people based on merit, and and that is the core feature of what we do. Well, I I look, I I I think that's great. I think focus on merit is important. I also think maintain that focus on patriotism. Because if if we don't have people who love our country, and I've as I said, I think our foreign service personnel are very patriotic. Everyone I've encountered, but we've got to maintain that focus. We've got to maintain that focus to advance our interests abroad. Thank you. I yield back.
▶ 1:36:08Gentleman's time has expired. I now represent uh recognize Representative Schneider for 5 Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman. And before I I start with addressing the Under Secretary, I just want to reflect and express my my deep offense at the continued effort in this committee to equate individuals who are different individuals who have different identities, labeling labeling them as as demonic.
▶ 1:36:38Specifically, what was said earlier about transgender individuals. I know many transgender Americans transgender Americans who are serving our nation with honor, whether as foreign service officers, in our in our communities. Our nation is stronger when all of us are working together as patriots, when we stand up and unite to move our country forward. And I think this committee should stop demonizing others simply because of who they are.
▶ 1:37:09I also want to pick up Under Secretary on on what Ms. Jacobs said in her line of inquiry, but before I do, let me thank you for your service and your commitment to our country. As Mr. Barr said rightly, the people who work in our foreign service office are patriots in serving our nation around the world, often times in harm's way.
▶ 1:37:27But with respect to the preparation for the war against Iran and in evacuating American citizens, I can't tell you how many calls and outreach I received from citizens stranded in Israel, in the UAE, other locations affected by the war, literally feeling like they were left hanging by this I think it's obvious to anyone paying that the administration was caught flat-footed, leaving those thousands of Americans adrift without a plan, without any specific guidance.
▶ 1:37:57When this war is over, I think it's imperative that this committee reviews the failures to ensure that they never happen Shifting gears here a little bit. You said in your opening remarks, and it is worth noting, the foreign service is the backbone of American diplomacy, and its officers represent our nation's values and interests across the globe. As I said, I could not agree more. But at 46 years old, the foreign service needed reform. The world has changed since its founding.
▶ 1:38:26How we operate needs to change with it. The problem is that that this administration is doing the opposite of reform. Reform means investing in the institution so it performs better. What we have seen instead is a systematic effort to hollow out the department's career workforce with no real plan to rebuild it.
▶ 1:38:45Last July, the department fired roughly employees through a reduction in force with no metrics, no data, and no explanation to this committee or to the individuals who were let go about how those cuts made America safer. I talked to so many now former foreign service officers who had devoted their careers to our and were told, "We no longer need your service." Without even so much as a thank you.
▶ 1:39:14Arabic and Farsi speakers were let go. Conflict stabilization experts were let go. More than 100 consular affairs staff were let go. The department then froze hiring so the people it fired could not even compete for other positions inside the building. And then the administration launched a We are now 18 days into operation epic fury. The department set up a consular task force 7 hours after the strikes began.
▶ 1:39:42Travel advisories for most countries in the region were not updated before the conflict started. Americans were told to depart 14 countries on March 2nd, 4 days into this war, while commercial flights had almost all but completely stopped. Charter flights did not begin for many days after that and the department's own recorded hotline simply told Americans they should not rely on their government to help them.
▶ 1:40:07Think about that, making that call to your government and hearing don't count on us. What an abject failure. I want to be clear the career civil and foreign service officers working around the clock on this crisis are doing extraordinary work. They should be commended and celebrated and honored. But they're doing it with too few people, too few resources, and a leadership team that did not plan for the most basic consequences of a war when it chose to start.
▶ 1:40:39Under Secretary Evans, I want to work with you on real reform, but real reform requires that the department follow existing law, respond to congressional oversight, and stop treating its career workforce as the problem rather than the There's so much we can do. There's so much the world is looking for us to do to lead the world to a better place. And our foreign service officers have been the ones who have done that for 46 years.
▶ 1:41:07I'm sorry to be so harsh, but the reality hurts me to my core. Our nation is better than what we're seeing. We need to stand up. We need to celebrate our foreign service officers. We need to make sure that the United States leads the world to a better place. I yield back. Chairman's time has expired. I now recognize Representative Fine for 5 Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:41:29Um I think I want to move in a different direction, not take potshots given about what's going on in the world, but focus on what you're here to talk about, which is managing the foreign service, which obviously plays a critical role in advancing American interests all over the world. And I appreciate everyone who who does that work.
▶ 1:41:49I'm curious at a broader level, do you believe uh today that the foreign service accurately reflects the mission Congress intended for it of defending, promoting, and advancing US national security interests, or has [clears throat] the service in in practice drifted astray? And if so, how has the foreign affair how has the foreign service's culture of stifling creativity and lacking accountability, as described by Secretary Rubio, caused this drift?
▶ 1:42:19Well, thank you for that question and the opportunity to talk about this The foreign service, as I mentioned, is a strong organization. We move forward in the direction as directed by the president and by the secretary. Uh I do believe that there has been some drift over the years, as you mentioned, away from our core functions and away from our ability to truly focus on the things that matter, on the policies and priorities that were intended to focus
▶ 1:42:45are those drifts? What are those What is the So, what is the stuff that's being done that shouldn't be done?
▶ 1:42:50Yeah, I mean, one of the big ones we mentioned was DEIA. The fact that we were so focused on that took away from our ability to focus on the core functions of the department. So, those are the types of things that we need to move away from. We need to be focused on diplomacy, on commercial diplomacy, on all of the things that we do out there, on working with other nations to uh to in the interest of of the United States and focus on our interests. And a lot of times we focused on interests that weren't necessarily in the interest of the United States.
▶ 1:43:20So, can you Do you have any examples? And if you presented them before I got here, I apologize, but do you have any examples of where, you know, Democrats' insistence DEI comes before the interests of the United States might have actually caused some negative outcome? Uh I don't have anything specific right now, but I can certainly get you those those examples. Can you Do you You can't think of any or you you know
▶ 1:43:42I I don't have any off the top of my head. Sorry, sir. how does this this impact, you know, this drift that you talked about? How does it impact the effectiveness and credibility of US diplomacy? And how do we ensure the service becomes recommitted to advancing US national security interests instead of stupid woke nonsense um or entrenching themselves just in bureaucracy?
▶ 1:44:04That's exactly what we're in the process of doing right now by refocusing our efforts, by reorganizing the department so that we can put all of our efforts towards the priorities and towards the things that are important for diplomacy. That's exactly what we're in the midst of doing right now. Okay. So, from the perspective of US strategic competition and our overarching foreign policy goals, are there critical regions or missions today where you think there's insufficient foreign service staffing and it's directly undermining our issues? Are there places where we just don't have enough people?
▶ 1:44:33Yeah, I I think our missions are sized in such a way and were designed in a time very different than today. I think based on the uh the national security strategy, the areas we need to focus on are the Indo-Pacific, our China, are those areas And where do we have too many people? Where where we have too many people? Um I wouldn't say we have too many people. I think we have the wrong focus. I think we have the wrong types of people there.
▶ 1:44:57I'm not saying too many people, overall, where do we Where have we If we've under-resourced in certain places, where have we over-resourced? Well, that that's a fair question. Um
▶ 1:45:08I'm talking about shifting resources, that sort of thing. where would you pull the resources from? Well, honestly, I think one of the areas where we have over-resourced maybe the European Bureau, where we have a whole lot of people doing important work. And it is important work. But I think we need to refocus our priorities, and I think we need to take a very close look at our overseas footprint, where we have people and what they're doing, and making sure that that's aligned with our priorities.
▶ 1:45:34And just again, as the new guy, just for my own edification, is that where those people go? Or are we telling you that you have to put X number of people in this embassy and X number of people in that embassy? Or is this shifting the prioritization? Is this fully within your purview to make the decisions on where to staff? If you've got X number foreign service officers, you decide how to allocate that.
▶ 1:45:55That is within our purview, and we're in the process of doing that right now. As as I mentioned, we're standing up these new embassies in the Indo-Pacific, and we're pushing people that direction. We're really trying to focus our priorities so that we're aligned with the priorities of the president and the secretary, and have the the best foreign policy in the interest of the United States. Well, thank you for what you do, making sure we've [clears throat] got our resources in the places that they need to be. It's not the same world that it was in the 1970s and the 1980s. The challenges are much greater um in certain places and lesser in others.
▶ 1:46:24So, thank you for what you're doing, and and I appreciate it. I yield back, Mr. Chairman. Representative Castro. Uh thank you. Thank you, Under Secretary Evans, for your testimony today. Uh the FY23 NDAA directed consular affairs to identify new passport office locations in major cities more than 5 hours from an existing agency.
▶ 1:46:44In 2024, the department announced six cities: San Antonio, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Orlando, and Of those six, two are under construction and three are in site design. San Antonio, the seventh most populous city in the country, has no site identified, no design underway, and no construction started. It's also my hometown and where I represent. So, I want to [snorts] ask you, when can the people of San Antonio, Texas, expect their passport office?
▶ 1:47:13Well, thank you for that question, sir. Um I appreciate the opportunity to address that. We are working very hard to identify a site that would be appropriate in San Antonio. We're moving that direction. As you know, it is a process. Trying to find a federal facility that can accommodate what we need is a process. We're working through that process right now. I don't have a set timeline for you, but I can I can assure you that it is top of mind as we as we work through our passport agencies. So, there will be a passport office in San Antonio? Yes, sir. We have that commitment. Okay.
▶ 1:47:42Uh I want to ask you now about the student internship program at the Department of State. Uh for years in Washington, and it was true in the Congress also until we changed it, there were so many people who couldn't afford to get a start, even their foot in the door, at the State Department by interning because interns were not paid. Same thing here in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. But uh in 2022, I worked with former Representative Lee Zeldin, now a member of the President's cabinet, to establish paid internships at the State Department.
▶ 1:48:11Before that law, interns worked for free and covered their own housing and travel and all the other expenses. Uh the department's own report to the Congress showed that 86% of the 2023 interns said they could not have participated without pay and housing support. And the department has since stopped the program. Uh let me be clear, the law requires this program to exist, and that's not an option. And so, why did the State Department stop it, and when will the program restart?
▶ 1:48:42Well, thank you for that question. We are working. We're looking at that right now, how can we we can restart that program and our other intern programs as well, so that we are able to bring in these individuals and give them the opportunity to learn what the foreign service does and perhaps become foreign service officers. Well, you know, last week um Ms. Sarah McKemie told this committee that the program had restarted, and interns are being onboarded. Uh did she have that wrong in terms of where you are in the process? No, she's correct in that.
▶ 1:49:11We are bringing people on board and we're looking at the program to see what else we might need to do to reinforce it. And so, again to be clear, do we have your commitment to restart this program as required by law and brief this committee on your timeline? Yes, sir. Oh, thank you. And then finally, the department conducted reductions in force and insisted the decisions were position based, not performance based. These officers were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
▶ 1:49:40And about 240 remain on administrative leave because of congressional action. These are people the department invested in language training, graduate degrees, years of field experience, and yet the department is now hiring new foreign service officers and contractors to fill vacancies. Positions that will require tens of thousands of dollars in training and all of that other preparation. So, my question is very straightforward.
▶ 1:50:07Will you allow these 240 officers currently on administrative leave to bid for open positions within the department so their experience, their clearances, and their commitment to service, and all of the money that the US government and US taxpayers have poured into them uh won't be discarded? I don't believe we have plans to do that at this point. And can you please explain to the committee why that is?
▶ 1:50:33Why would we Why would we spend all this money on all of these people who again who were not put in this position because of um dereliction of performance? Again, as I mentioned, we looked at the organization and determined that certain functions were no longer necessary No, no, I and I get that, but now I'm not asking about the function. I'm asking about the person and whether whether you will commit to allow them to compete for open positions to compete for open positions.
▶ 1:51:03I'm not asking you if you're going to guarantee them a job. I'm asking you if you're going to allow them to compete. No, as as you mentioned, this was not done on a personal basis. It was done based on position. Um
▶ 1:51:13But if it was based on a position, what's your objection to letting that that person compete for an open job? Well, at this point in time, I don't believe we have any intention to do
▶ 1:51:22I mean, I I guess I'm very alarmed that you guys basically have a vendetta against these particular people and some hidden agenda on why you won't allow them to compete. Uh that is certainly not the case, sir.
▶ 1:51:37It certainly appears to be the case to
▶ 1:51:38Representative Sherrill is recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In January, the State Department announced a pause on immigrant visas processing for 75 countries, including several US partners. Since then, the department has provided no clear guidelines or timelines for when this pause will be lifted or revised.
▶ 1:51:57The policy is already separating families, delaying international adoptions, and blocking legal pathways for individuals who assisted the United States courts in prosecuting domestic violence cases. Federal law also provides explicit exemptions for Violence Against Women Act beneficiaries in adoption cases. Did the administration review existing laws before implementing the visa processing pause for these 75 countries? I'll thank you for that question.
▶ 1:52:27The immigrant The immigrant visa pause was evaluated by our legal team and determined that it was in fact something that we could do at this point in time. Again, this is a pause. This is not a complete cease. It is a pause while we evaluate the situation. So, why have officials acknowledged that the department is still determining how to apply those legal requirements after the pause was already put in place? Uh it is a very complicated legal situation, so we're working through the process to make sure that we do it right and we comply with all of How long has the pause been in effect?
▶ 1:52:58Uh it's been in effect for a couple of months now. So, in a couple of months, you guys still haven't been able to put in the legal framework to allow the women who are the beneficiaries even though it's already part it's [snorts] already legal? Uh as I say, we're working through that process right now with our legal teams. And so, could you tell me a little bit about how you're working through it because this is already a law that's in place. And so, it would seem that there hasn't been any challenge to this law and that if it's already in place, it should be easy an easy go through to start admitting those beneficiaries.
▶ 1:53:28Do you believe so? Uh I believe we're working through the process with the laws and with with all the other pieces of this that come into play uh with with the visa processing piece. And so, how would you rate your willingness to actually have this in place cuz you said you're working on it. Is it a priority or is something put on a back burner? It is a priority for our team that works on that, absolutely. Okay. What data did the um department rely on to determine which countries were considered a public charge risk?
▶ 1:53:53The department briefings indicate that list came from the White House, yet the president publicly referred to countries no longer exist that no longer exist, such as the USSR and the United Arab Republic. How did the department verify the accuracy of the data used to compile this list? Uh my understanding is they looked at the rates of of individuals coming into the United States from certain countries and what their rate was of becoming public charge.
▶ 1:54:22I think there was an there was an analysis done on these individual countries to determine which countries are most likely to be an issue for the American
▶ 1:54:31And so, how did they do the analysis for USSR and United um Arab Republic? Uh I was not aware that those were on the list, so I will go back and look at that. Okay, so that could have been a misstatement. Please get back to us that information cuz I would like to know how it was done for countries that no longer exist. And then also, the department implemented this pause without process to account for cases that already qualify for statutory waivers under the public charge.
▶ 1:54:56Why would those legal require legally required waiver pathways not operational before the policy was Uh again, we're doing a legal review of the entire process, so we need a little bit of time to get through that. We will We will get back to you on that.
▶ 1:55:10So, there was no consideration prior? Uh I'm not aware if there's consideration or not. I wasn't involved in the process to make those determinations, but I will certainly go back and take a look at it.
▶ 1:55:19Okay, I just want to get this in real quick. Um the success of the State Department hinges on its workforce. Recruiting, training, and retaining the best and the brightest um is one of our core missions. Yet despite the clear messages of bipartisan bicameral support, the administration has yet to place the majority of 2025 fellowship um class within the department. Um I wanted to know because, you know, we already had um Representative Castor who touched on the testimony of Sherry McMillem. Um I'm aware that 46 people are waiting for placement.
▶ 1:55:50When would they be notified of their placement within the A-100 Uh those individuals have gone on to the register what we call the register, which is where we put people that are eligible to be placed in a foreign service officer class. And based on the ranking on that register, as we develop the next foreign service officer class, we'll pull some of those folks off as as they rise to the top of that register.
▶ 1:56:09Before I run out of time, do we have a timeline that we're looking at? Cuz time is of of the essence right now. Yes, I believe we're going to be developing our new class in the next month or so and we should be able to inform some of those folks that they've been selected for
▶ 1:56:21And then lastly, who's leading the review of these fellowship programs? And what is Well, you told me the time. Who's leading the review? Uh the review is being led by our human resources department by Ms. McMillem and Okay. Well, thank you. I yield back. Representative Stanton. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Uh Under Secretary Evans, last summer the State Department laid off nearly 1,350 employees, including more than 100 the Bureau of Consular Affairs.
▶ 1:56:49Consular Affairs is critical because of acts as the primary direct lifeline for American citizens traveling or living abroad, ensuring their safety and protection during emergencies. The administration started this war of choice in Iran on February 28th. The department only set up a task force focused on Consular 7 hours after the war had already started.
▶ 1:57:10Waited until March 2nd to post that American citizens should depart 14 countries in the region and only uh only released crisis intake force for some countries on March 4th. This is not only a complete failure to plan, but also evidence of the importance of maintaining a robust department workforce that knows how to properly handle crisis from natural disasters to war.
▶ 1:57:32Under Secretary, since July of last year, has the department made any attempt to rehire or hire to make up for the 100 personnel cut from Consular Uh thank you for that question. Uh the folks that were eliminated from Consular Affairs were not Consular officers. They were folks that were in support roles. Nobody working on passport adjudications or visa adjudications was was involved in that group.
▶ 1:57:55In December, the American Foreign Service Association put out a report that highlighted concerns voiced for months by career diplomats about the negative impact of the Trump administration's sweeping changes to the State Department and foreign assistant Uh many said that {quote} key projects and initiatives are being delayed or suspended and that they are {quote} managing significantly heavier workloads due to staffing losses. It's clear to me that less staff means more burned out employees, compromising department readiness.
▶ 1:58:23Before the war even started, what was your plan to ensure that there was sufficient staffing to handle all of the incoming requests knowing that thousands of Americans lived and worked in the Middle Well, as I mentioned, our our Consular Affairs Department was not affected by the rest other than the support individuals that we discussed a moment ago. We have enough people in place in Consular Affairs to handle this type of situation and I think we've proven ourselves very effective. 70,000 Americans have departed the region. Over 8,700 individuals have departed on 64 flights that we provided.
▶ 1:58:53I think we've done a very good job of getting people out of the way. You're satisfied with the response of your department uh in the Middle East in light of this war of I believe we've gotten enough the people that have requested our help have received our help. Shifting gears, uh when the State Department undertook a reduction in force of employees last year, it completely eliminated the Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues.
▶ 1:59:17For years, former Secretary Rubio and former Chairman Ed Royce to Ivanka Trump, all of them said that the United States has supported investments and to global gender equality. That all came to an end when you fired all of the staff dedicated to this work. Secretary Rubio had told members of Congress that the work of the Office of Global Women's Issues would be folded into a into the regional bureaus, but I see no evidence of that happening. Have you specifically signed staff in each regional bureau to take on the GWI's responsibilities?
▶ 1:59:46Uh each each regional bureau is tasked with focusing on that as part of their overall portfolio. Yes. Under leadership of then Secretary Rubio and former Chairman Royce, Congress passed into law the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 and the Women's Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Act of 2018, mandating that training and resources be put towards gender equality programming.
▶ 2:00:09Rather, for the first time the department has missed its deadline to submit to Congress the required report updating us on how it is carrying out these important responsibilities legally mandated in the WPS Act. When can we expect the report and which staff at in which bureaus will be writing it? Uh we are in in fact in the process of working on those reports. As you may recall, we had a a government shutdown that slowed down the process a little bit. We're working through those reports and and other government reports that we're required to produce. So, we are working through those. When do you expect that this committee will see those reports?
▶ 2:00:40Uh I don't have a specific date on when they'll be done. All right, thank you very much, Chairman. I yield back. Representative Omar. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Under Secretary, for being here. Uh Under Secretary Evans, uh your purview includes managing the State Department staff, what I believe is our most important asset for promoting American priorities, negotiating with our allies and adversaries, protecting Americans abroad, and helping us compete in an increasingly interconnected world.
▶ 2:01:08Under President Trump, however, the State Department recklessly fired expert staff, laying laying off over 1,300 employees without a plan and without regard for their experience or the need for their expertise. They fired experts in nuclear power, conflict stabilization, countering violent extremism, foreign assistance programs, and democracy building.
▶ 2:01:29Uh we're all going to feel the impacts of these cuts in in every area of our diplomacy, but there's no clearer example of the harm from these cuts than the bungled response to Trump's war in Iran. When the war began, American citizens in the Middle East looked to the State Department and our embassies for help to evacuate the war zone.
▶ 2:01:50But last year, the State Department reportedly laid off 100 staff members in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, the people responsible for handling emergencies and evacuating Americans from war zones. So, while our Americans sheltered from Iranian drone attacks and European governments evacuated their citizens, there was no plan from your State Department. Under this administration, America first means being the last ones to evacuate our citizens from a war zone of our own creation.
▶ 2:02:17Under your leadership, the State Department did not set up a task force focused on planning for how to support getting Americans out of the region until 7 hours after the war began. Waited 2 days, long after most commercial flights were stopped, to even send out an alert that American citizens should leave the Middle East. Spent days telling American citizens in need to call a phone number, only for the call to play a message saying our government could not help them.
▶ 2:02:44And failed to provide timely evacuation assistance to the frightened families who were just asking for help. Just this week, my office heard from a constituent who is still stuck in the Middle East and has been unable to get help from the State Department to return safely. And as of 10:00 a.m. this very morning, you still have not updated the travel advisories on your website. Kuwait is still listed as a country where American citizens should only reconsider travel, even though the situation is so dangerous that the embassy is closed.
▶ 2:03:13I'm concerned that the State Department's website is less reliable than the news that you find on on Twitter or X or whatever it's called Because of your lack of leadership and planning and the president's war of choice, Americans are at risk and unable to get themselves and their families back home to safety. And because of your decisions, Americans here at home are facing higher prices. We're facing an oil crisis now that Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz and gas has gone up by almost 50 cents a gallon.
▶ 2:03:42And to make matters worse, this is after the State Department fired the experts who are supposed to respond to international oil and gas crises. So, to make this point crystal clear, and I know you've heard it today, the Trump administration fired our experts in responding to international oil crisis, then started an illegal war that shut down the pathway through which 20% of the world's oil travels.
▶ 2:04:05So, Under Secretary Evans, uh what's your plan to evaluate what State Department staff you need to rehire uh to ensure that we have the talent and the experience we so clearly have lost in our Consular Affairs Bureau, our Bureau of Energy Resources, and across the State Department because of these reckless cuts? Well, thank you for that question. I would like to say if you do have constituents that are in harm's way, please let us know who those folks are. We'd be happy to reach out to them. We'd be happy to reach out to them.
▶ 2:04:34Um beyond that, uh we will of course do an evaluation after this this operation is over and we'll take a look at what went well, what did not went well. We've already done some in-line evaluations along the way and we're we're prepared to adjust
▶ 2:04:46Have you made any adjustments real time in in the last couple weeks? We we've been able to staff up where we needed to staff up. For example, on our Consular Crisis Team, we've been able to get more people in that involved in that task force and answering phone calls. Uh to my knowledge, uh we have contacted over 40,000 individuals through our Consular
▶ 2:05:05So, you had so you had to make changes. So, you you you I think you could fairly say there were things that weren't going great that you tried to make better.
▶ 2:05:12That that is the case in any any type of operation like this. There are things that you don't anticipate.
▶ 2:05:16it would have been better if there was a better plan? I think we we adapted quite well to the
▶ 2:05:21like there could have been a better plan. We were able to help American citizens who who needed help. Look, you serve an important role. And I you know, I raise these points not for politics, but before the life and safety of US citizens, the people that we work for.
▶ 2:05:35So, I appreciate your efforts, uh but I encourage the department to take that evaluation of all the work and harm that has been done uh that an agency that is so important to to our country, and look in the mirror and make sure that we never make these mistakes again. And I with that, I yield back.
▶ 2:05:56Gentleman yields back and I would beg you as well, please make sure we never make the mistakes again of hiring people that queer maps, do transgender job fairs, musicals, operas, plays, uh gender equality through ultimate uh gender equality for Filipino coffee baristas, all the other BS that the State Department was doing before the Trump administration came in. Please ensure that we never hire those people back that were doing that and never hire anybody to do that ever again.
▶ 2:06:27Uh that would be my begging of you. Mr. Levin, you're recognized. Leon? No. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Under Secretary, I have a very specific need right this Right now, uh in Israel, there are 55 students from the Leffell School, senior high school Jewish day school in Westchester County. They have been trapped in Israel along with two chaperones uh since the war broke out.
▶ 2:06:55They have been trying to get flights to get out. They were given flights on different El Al flights scheduled for March 26th. They heard yesterday that those flights were frozen and they may be bumped in order to accommodate people who were had were on earlier flights. My team in my district office has reached out to the State Department and haven't been given a clear answer of what comes next. I want to bring those kids home.
▶ 2:07:19I want to bring them home safely to their They have uh been told to deal directly with El Al, but they can't get through. Can you commit to helping assist these 55 students from the Leffell School to get back home uh to the United States? Yes, sir, I will take that back and we'll reach out to those individuals and make sure they get home safe. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I yield. Gentleman yields back. Looks like we've exhausted most members. I quite often save my questions for the end.
▶ 2:07:49So, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions myself. I think it matters as uh there's been a lot of conversation about foreign service officers. What makes a good foreign service officer? Uh you know, I might I come from a military background and say I'd love to see more military people uh as they whether they end their time in service or they actually just retire from the military after a career of service, I'd love to see them make that move into being diplomats on behalf of the United States of America beyond the diplomatic work that they were doing carrying a rifle uh on behalf of our country.
▶ 2:08:18And so, uh that's something I'd love to hear you talk about is just how can we Tell me the job that we're doing right now to get members of the military to make that transition to become diplomats. How can we do a better job of doing that? Tell me uh what do we do to prepare them for the foreign service officer exam as they're working on exiting the military? Uh what recruitment do we do for individuals exiting any branch of the military to say, "This is an option open to you.
▶ 2:08:43We'd love to have you take your skills and bring that." How do we weigh uh a a degree, not that many of them are members of the military don't have a a degree, many of them do, whether they're officers or not, they have their tuition assistance programs and GI bills that assist them to get degrees, but uh how do you weigh a degree versus military experience in terms of that hiring process? And then involved in that question as well, I'd love to hear you expound a little bit on just the definition of diplomacy.
▶ 2:09:12You know, there's you've heard me bring it up several times in here that some people under the flag of diplomacy were doing things that not one damn nation was asking our country to do. You know, I was just listing off things like like queering a map. There's nobody asking us to queer a map. There's nobody that was asking us to do transgender operas or plays in their countries. And these are things that we're pushing countries away from us instead of real diplomacy working to make America the partner of choice.
▶ 2:09:40And so I'd love to hear you talk about what what should be the definition of diplomacy. How do we work on that? Anything that you can give on any of those things, I would love to hear the All right, thank you very much, Mr. Concerning our veterans, our military veterans, some of the finest foreign service officers I've served with are military veterans. And I think we need to do a better job of recruiting those folks and and letting them understand that this is an alternative.
▶ 2:10:02When folks dedicate their lives through military service, they develop a certain skill set that we can absolutely use within the foreign service and I'd love to have more more veterans come in and and I'm looking for opportunities to recruit those folks and and make them aware that this is a possibility for them. I don't think we do a great job of that. So I'm looking for opportunities to do that.
▶ 2:10:22On the other piece of what is diplomacy, diplomacy is engaging other countries to operate in shared interest, our interest and their interest, where those align and making sure that we're able to work with people increase the strength of both of those nations. Now in situations where we don't agree, we have to take our interests first and I think that's something we haven't done a fantastic job of in recent years.
▶ 2:10:51So I think it's something we're really refocused on now with this administration of making sure that everything we do out there in the field, everything we do in the world of diplomacy is focused on what's best for our country. And in many cases it's also what's best for the countries that we're working with. So to me that's where the diplomacy lies where we're able to talk to these folks, find out what their interests are, find out where our interests align with those interests and move forward. What you're saying makes total sense to me.
▶ 2:11:17I tell folks often whenever I have diplomats from other countries into my office, which is all day, every day. They know that I'm going to speak to them about number one, what does the United States of America need from them? What what why do we care about that relationship beyond just the fact that it's been a long-standing relationship? What do we need out of it? What do they want from us? And then the third part of it and probably the most important part of that question is if we do our side of it, if we provide what they're looking for, does the United States of America get what it needs?
▶ 2:11:47And sometimes that's a short-term transaction in terms of, you know, weapons for currency, but often it's long-term transaction in terms of we need stability, we need a partner, we need a place for a base or a port or a host of other things. But we do need to know exactly what it is that we need, what they want and do we get what we need if we do our side of the the bargain, our side of the deal. Going back to the military recruitment side of it, very close to my heart. Do we have a specific military recruitment pipeline?
▶ 2:12:18A specific pipeline for you exited the military as an enlisted man or as an officer, take this this pipeline into an expeditious way to become a foreign service officer because I have heard from people just over the years throughout multiple administrations that they worked to become a foreign service and some of this almost had to wait so long in the hiring process that they had forgotten that they even went through that hiring process and were
▶ 2:12:48starting to pursue other careers and other things because they simply thought they had maybe been forgotten about. So is there a pipeline for members of the military so that they can quickly transition, they hit that end time in service date or that retirement date and they can onboard within a matter of a week or two weeks and not have a long lead time? There's not a current process like that, but I'd be happy to explore that with you and see if we can develop something. I think something
▶ 2:13:12love to work on that with you. I think it'd be one of the greatest accomplishments that that you and I could work on together would be to create a pipeline so that our people that have invested so much time defending our country can go out there and continue that defense as diplomats of our nation without this long gap in service that we know people don't want. You know, they want to get right back on mission when they're exiting when they're exiting the military. And so in that I thank you for answering my questions. I thank you for your time here today.
▶ 2:13:42As a closing statement, I would offer it to you if you have anything that you would like to close on, anything that you were asked here today. What I'm sorry. Dina, you just walked in. I didn't see you walk in behind me. So we did have another member come in. Dina Dina Titus snuck in and so did you think I was going to close it out without me?
▶ 2:13:59I thought you were just going to pretend You weren't going to speak up and let me know that you came in?
▶ 2:14:03Sending some looks down there, Mr. Chairman, so thank you for acknowledging them. Very good. All right, Dina Titus, Nevada just came in, so you are recognized. And then if nobody else shows up, we'll go to your closing
▶ 2:14:14Well, thank you very much cuz there is something I wanted to ask about. We've heard a lot about the devastating cuts that have been made and I've been looking for some way to expand our diplomatic capacity and there's some way that could be bipartisan and supported from your end as well as ours and that's a diplomatic reserve corps.
▶ 2:14:36We've heard former diplomats talk about it, foreign service officers, both administrations have said it would be a good thing to do, high security officials take advantage of of people who have retired or gone on to be in this reserve corps who could step in. I wondered if you had any thoughts on that or if you could be supportive of it because as we move forward with the legislation this term, I'm going to introduce that as a bill and hope to see it get considered.
▶ 2:15:05Thank you for that question. I I think the idea of a diplomatic reserve corps is a good idea. It's an interesting idea. I've read through your bill and I find it very interesting. I think it's something that we'd be willing to work with you on to help reinforce the things that the the foreign service and the State Department does to be able to have some bench strength would be helpful. To be able to surge capacity in in certain instances would be helpful. So I'd love to talk to you about that. Well, thank you. Do you hear that, Mr. Chairman? Oh, Okay, well well I'm glad I got to ask the question then.
▶ 2:15:34Thank you and I'll look forward to doing that because I think I think it could be something that we could take advantage of. Also talking about the lack of diplomats and the the need to replace some of these folks. You know, we've got about 115 vacancies now. I know this has been mentioned earlier, but I'd like to go back to it. Can you tell us a little bit about why these people were fired with no plan to replace them? It's kind of like they're getting rid of the team in the middle of the season.
▶ 2:16:04I don't really understand that and even if they're going to be recalled in 90 days, they're going to be I mean they've been been recalled and they're going to be put on retirement. What's the status of these folks? Where where are they in the process? What's happened to them? Thank you for the question. These individuals are currently still on administrative leave as we work through the process to determine what the final disposition is going to be.
▶ 2:16:28As mentioned earlier, we did the reorganization and in the reorganization we determined certain portions of the of the department were redundant and we needed to remove those, so we did that and the individuals that were in those positions were subsequently removed as well. So that's how we got to where we are. We're going to continue working for the through the process until we reach a a final resolution.
▶ 2:16:50it seems like some of them are being replaced just by picking and choosing kind of favorites as opposed to the standard process of replacing ambassadors. Is there a reason why you've changed that or circumvented that long-standing process of choosing ambassadors? The ambassadors are chosen by the president. That's not something that we do.
▶ 2:17:12We support the president in choosing the folks that he wants to be out there representing him and as soon as he names somebody, we work very very hard to get them out in the field as soon as possible. How about the people who have moved into be replacements on status? Charge d'affaires?
▶ 2:17:27Yeah. What we do there is we look for the person that's going to be able to best execute the leadership of that mission in that circumstance. So we look for people that have the skill sets to manage those missions and those are the folks we send out as our charges. Some of these vacancies, a lot of them are in Africa, but some of them are in places where we're in conflict right now.
▶ 2:17:45We need to kind of speed up that process and get some of these replacements put in there because I mean you can have anybody in the State Department in charge, but something about the imprimatur of an ambassador elevates the level of exchange. Yeah, certainly. And as I mentioned, as soon as the president appoints individuals to those positions, we'll be happy to get them out there as soon as possible.
▶ 2:18:10In the meantime, we have some of our most experienced most talented foreign service officers leading those missions through this specific operation. Well, do you think that whole reorganization process is done or you anticipating some another sweep of getting rid of some ambassadors who are in the field now? I I don't have any insight as to what the president's going to choose to do with the ambassadors down the road. I I know what we have to work with this right now and that's what we're working with. Okay. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for indulging me.
▶ 2:18:40One of your other colleagues has now arrived as well, so I thought you were getting out of here, but that's not the case. Representative McBryde, you're
▶ 2:18:47Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, and I'm glad I got in just in the nick of time. It's great to be back here in the Foreign Affairs Committee. Two hearings two days in a row. Um but neither of them have been about the war of choice this president has launched our country into in the Middle East. I said it yesterday, I'll say it again.
▶ 2:19:04I don't understand why we haven't had a hearing specifically on this administration's foreign policy that has thrust us into a war of choice in Iran where thus far the main beneficiaries have been Russian oil revenue and China's understanding of our operational capabilities. A war with no clear objectives, with no answers, and with no plan for our brave American service members and American citizens trapped in a war zone this president created. Mr. Mr.
▶ 2:19:31Secretary, uh thank you for your efforts to help American citizens and service members get out of harm's way in the Middle East. I imagine the last few weeks have been particularly demanding considering the tens of thousands of American citizens living in the Middle East. As you noted in your testimony, the safety of American foreign service officers abroad is your top priority. I just want to reinforce and and and get reconfirmation.
▶ 2:19:58It's true that your department cut roughly 1,300 employees last year. That's correct? Uh yes, ma'am. That is correct. That's a pretty significant workforce reduction and many of my colleagues have certainly raised there's still no clear explanation for how the decisions were made about who to reduce, whether it was merit-based or AI-generated list. But at this moment um we are obviously engaged in a particular conflict.
▶ 2:20:28When the president chose to go to war with Iran was your department fully staffed and prepared to evacuate American citizens neces- as Uh yes, we have we were prepared to to adapt to the current situation as we are with any situation. As I mentioned earlier, we are prepared at all times for any type of situation that may happen, whether it's kinetic action, whether it's a a natural disaster. Our missions overseas are prepared to respond and our department is prepared to respond.
▶ 2:20:55I I I find it challenging to believe that with such a significant reduction within your that you were able to be fully prepared and and I also find it difficult to reconcile with the fact that we have heard through news reports that the Department of State was not fully prepared for this impending crisis.
▶ 2:21:23And I just want to make sure, Mr. Chairman, that we enter some of that media reporting into the record. So, I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a Washington Post article titled, quote, "US tells all its embassies to uh immediately review security after Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr.
▶ 2:21:43Secretary, according to that reporting your department issued a directive to US diplomatic posts across the world to immediately review security evaluations citing ongoing and ongoing and developing situation in the Middle East and the potential for spillover effects just yesterday. That's more than a week after incidents had already occurred, an explosion near the US Embassy in Oslo on March 8th and an attack on the US Consulate in Toronto on March 10th. help me understand this.
▶ 2:22:09If the reduction in force had no impact and and you all were fully prepared, why did it take over a week for your department to issue a worldwide advisory when there were already clear signs the conflict had spread beyond the region? Well, that was not the first time I'd asked our posts to perform an emergency action committee meeting focused on potential spillover effects. That happened in the immediate aftermath of the start of this operation. This is not the first time we've had that conversation with our posts.
▶ 2:22:35Um it was a a reminder, it was a follow-up that, okay, it's it's been a little bit of time, let's refocus on this again. So, that was not the first time that that I've instructed our posts to do that. You instructed your posts. Was there any tangible action outside the region at those posts as a byproduct of that apparent first warning? Yes, each one of our posts conducted an emergency action committee and they talked about what the potential for spillover effects might be.
▶ 2:23:02And this thing that we issued yesterday was a reminder to do that again. Well, that that does conflict with with everything that we've heard. I I appreciate that clarification. Um Mr. Chairman, I ask for unanimous consent to enter into the record a letter led by ranking member Meeks which me and many of my Democratic colleagues co-signed on the State Department's lack of planning for the war in Iran. So ordered. Mr.
▶ 2:23:29Secretary it it seems like we're getting a lot of different answers. There's a lot of different reporting and I just want to put a a a a a finer point on it. Were you all prepared before the war was to protect our embassies and our foreign service officers? Were you aware? Were you planning before the war commenced? As I've mentioned, we're always prepared for for any type of situation. That's what we do.
▶ 2:23:56Part of our part of our procedures for being overseas is to have a constant state of readiness and to that when things get difficult, we are able to respond. So I I know my time is out here, but that means that either you planned and the planning didn't actually pay off because there was a lot of chaos in the first few weeks including with our embassies and our foreign service officers and the Americans overseas, or you didn't really fully plan for any eventuality and weren't brought in as a department into the planning for this war.
▶ 2:24:25And either of those scenarios is deeply troubling. Thank you. I yield Thank you. Representative yields back. I don't know if you're interested in talking about this, but I would be curious to know if the representative has read any of the embassy evacuation plans, the hundreds of pages that exist for every embassy across globe, but specifically Bahrain, UAE, Qatar. Did you take time to read any of those to date? I've I've read several of the documents, yes.
▶ 2:24:49Then you're familiar with the operations that are planned and I would hope you congratulate the gentleman on doing exactly what should be expected, which is you conduct an operation and review immediately the success of that. And then you review the next day and the next day and the next day. That's how we operate while on the Mr.
▶ 2:25:07Chairman, with respect, there's planning for all eventualities, there're pre-existing plans, and then there're specific plans based on specific events that are about to unfold that it does not appear sufficiently happen prior to the commencement of these attacks or in the immediate aftermath. I hope you don't find yourself surprised that the Washington Post or the Washington Times or any other publication does not find themselves privy to everything going on. Mr. Evans, it appears as we have nobody else.
▶ 2:25:38So, we're about to go to a closing statement. As I was saying before, I'll offer that closing statement to you. Anything that you wish to respond to? Uh anything that you wish to say, close with, you name it. The floor is yours. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I do want to say how much I appreciate my fellow foreign service officers and all the work that they're doing out there in the field. I know we've put some folks in some pretty difficult positions. I myself have been in difficult positions throughout my career and we really count on them to do what they do.
▶ 2:26:04So, I really value what they're doing out there and I really appreciate Uh I also appreciate the opportunity to work with you in this committee on the Foreign Service Act and how we can really reshape the Foreign Service for today's environment. As as we mentioned, it was designed in a time much different than today. So, I look forward to the opportunity to work with you all and really refocus the Foreign Service Act and build the Foreign Service of the future. Thank you very much.
▶ 2:26:28Thank you for your time here today and I will look forward to working with you specifically on what you and I spoke about, which is a pipeline for members of the military. In that we get to the part of the script for the conclusion. I thank you, Under Secretary, for your valuable testimony uh and members for their questions. Members of the committee may have some additional questions for the Under Secretary and we'd ask that you respond to those in writing.
▶ 2:26:53Pursuant to committee rules, all members may have 5 days to submit statements, questions, and extraneous materials for the record subject to length limitations. Without objection, the committee stands