Workforce
Passport Processing Remains Strained Despite Record Pace and a Hiring Spurt
The State Department cannot give an estimate for when the outlook will improve.
Defense
Marines Update Evacuation Playbook
A pre-deployment exercise allowed the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit to practice what they learned from the Afghanistan withdrawal and other non-combatant evacuation operations.
Management
State, Union Say Complying With House Subpoena Would Create Chilling Effect on Career Staff
The department said turning over a protected communication on the Afghanistan withdrawal would undermine its "unique way" for employees to "speak truth to power."
Workforce
State to End Severe Restrictions on Disabled Individuals Entering Foreign Service
The department will pay out $37.5 million as part of a settlement that will make it easier for people with disabilities to serve in the government's diplomatic corps abroad.
Workforce
Unfrozen: How the State Department Has Reversed Its ‘Draconian’ Cuts in Just Two Years
Biden promised to revive a "hollowed out" federal workforce, and at one agency, he has.
Management
State Department Opens Up Refugee Sponsorship to Individual Americans
The Biden administration, having bemoaned its internal shortfalls, leans on others outside government to meet the president's lofty admission goals.
Management
State Department Releases its Roadmap for Increasing Diversity and Equity
The department also announced last month a new, paid fellowship and internship program aimed at bringing individuals with diverse backgrounds to the department.
Management
Biden Administration at Odds With the IG Over the Scrutiny Afghans Received Before Entering the U.S.
DHS cannot be sure it properly screened the evacuees, the IG said, raising the possibility it admitted "criminals, suspected terrorists or other nefarious actors."
Management
The State Department’s Diversity and Inclusion Officer Says ‘This Time is Different’
Amb. Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley joined the U.S. Agency for International Development’s chief diversity officer, and the two testified about their work before a Senate committee on Tuesday.
Management
GovExec Daily: USGS is Fighting the 'Blood Diamond' Trade
Peter Chirico joins the podcast to discuss how the U.S. Geological Survey is tracking and surveying the mining and selling of blood minerals.
Oversight
The State Department Releases a Draft of Its $10 Billion Plan to Upgrade Diplomatic Tech
The "Evolve" solicitation is designed to revamp the technology products and services used by U.S. diplomats at home and abroad.
Management
The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv Resumes Operations
It’s been three months since Russia started the war in Ukraine.
Workforce
State Department Says It's Rebuilding After Trump 'Decimated' It, but Will Still Fall Short on Some Key Biden Goals
State is looking to fill vacancies and budget shortfalls.
Management
The State Dept. Should Recover Taxpayer Dollars ‘Wasted’ on a U.S. Embassy, Lawmaker Says
The construction of a new embassy compound in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan has been delayed for years.
Workforce
The Biden Administration Is Overhauling the Hiring Process for Foreign Service Applicants
The nearly 100-year-old test will play a less significant role in selecting qualified candidates.
Management
U.S. Diplomats Will Start Returning to Ukraine
Russia’s aggression continues, but “Ukraine is succeeding,” said the secretary of State.
Updated
Management
Non-Emergency Federal Employees Ordered to Leave Shanghai
The mandate comes as China contends with a worsening surge of COVID-19 cases.
Defense
Hell at Abbey Gate: Chaos, Confusion and Death in the Final Days of the War in Afghanistan
In firsthand accounts, Afghan civilians and U.S. Marines describe the desperate struggle to flee through the Kabul airport’s last open entrance. U.S. officials knew an attack was coming. Then a suicide bomber killed and injured hundreds.
Management
Madeleine Albright, the First Female Secretary of State, Dies at 84
"Hers were the hands that turned the tide of history," President Biden said in a White House statement on Wednesday.
Workforce