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House hearing spotlights overhaul of Foreign Service evaluations and assignment practices
Summary
Members pressed State Department Under Secretary Jason Evans on rewrites to evaluations, assignment processes, and efforts to prioritize staffing for high‑risk posts. Evans said the department has moved from narrative reviews to scored evaluations and will rank personnel to promote merit-based promotions.
Under Secretary for Management Jason Evans told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the State Department is converting subjective, narrative performance reviews into a scored, core‑precept evaluation system intended to rank personnel and make promotions and assignments more transparent.
Lawmakers of both parties pressed Evans during a full‑committee hearing March 12 for details about whether the changes will root promotions in measurable performance. "Our evaluations have been mainly an essay contest," Evans said, arguing the previous system rewarded writing skill more than demonstrable impact and that the new approach will "allow us to address that situation and really make sure that the people that are truly performing... are the ones that are getting the opportunities." (Under Secretary Jason Evans)
Why it matters: Members voiced bipartisan concerns that past personnel processes left the department with stale or hard‑to‑measure pipelines and that recent reductions in force had hollowed institutional expertise. Several members asked for committee briefings and data on how reductions were decided and whether the department will allow staff placed on administrative leave to re‑compete for open positions.
What Evans proposed: He said supervisors will be held accountable for rating inflation, that employees will be scored against defined precepts, and that the department will "rank our personnel and find out who really is performing the work that we need them to perform." Evans also said reassessing assignments is next on the reform agenda, including discussion of extending tours and ensuring the right skills are in priority posts.
Points of contention: Members repeatedly cited last summer's reductions (committee members referenced figures such as roughly 1,350 employees and 240–260 FSOs) and asked whether those cuts were position‑based or merit‑based. Evans said RIFs targeted positions deemed redundant in a reorganization and agreed to provide the committee additional documentation on decision criteria and accounts‑payable and staffing statistics.
Next steps: Evans welcomed continued engagement with the committee on revising the Foreign Service Act and said personnel changes will be monitored by the department. Lawmakers asked for written followups on the evaluation metrics, promotion outcomes, and the disposition of employees on administrative leave.
The committee has five days to submit additional questions for the record; Evans agreed to respond in writing.
