Government Executive magazine reports that since 2021 the State Department has expanded it civil service employees by 22% and its Foreign Service employees by 6%.
he State Department’s workforce growth and reforms to bring in new types of employees are at the core of the Biden administration’s diplomatic accomplishments, its chief said in a speech Wednesday aimed at defining his and the president’s legacy, though he acknowledged that success is at risk as diminished budgets loom.
State has established new bureaus, set up new embassies, ramped up its challenges to China, recommitted to combating climate change and strengthened alliances all because it has grown its workforce to its largest size ever, Secretary Antony Blinken said during a speech at the department’s Foreign Service Institute. All of that could be at risk if Congress fails to better support State’s budget or an incoming administration opts to walk back staffing gains.
“If we’re serious about U.S. leadership in the world, we can’t keep operating without knowing whether we’ll have a budget for the next fiscal year, forcing us to impose harmful cuts and hiring freezes,” Blinken said.
Already in fiscal 2024, State lowered civil service staffing caps at many bureaus as it dealt with budget shortfalls. It still managed to slightly grow its civil service workforce for the year and has expanded it by a whopping 22% since 2021. That marked the fastest hiring pace for the department in 20 years, Blinken said, and followed its civil service suffering among the largest losses of personnel of any agency under former President Trump.
The Foreign Service has expanded by 6% in the same timeframe and has recently welcomed its largest cohorts ever.