Department of State Authorization Act of 2021
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Department of State Authorization Act of 2021
This bill modifies the management and operations of the Department of State through various measures. These include requiring actions to recruit and retain a diverse workforce, establishing offices and roles to carry out designated functions, and providing for certain public diplomacy and anti-corruption measures.
Specifically, the bill addresses personnel matters within the State Department by, for example, requiring the State Department to submit a comprehensive five-year strategic staffing plan and otherwise modifying provisions related to home leave travel, employee assignment restrictions and preclusions, and the recall and reemployment of career members of the Foreign and civil service. Further, the bill establishes recruitment, retention, and promotion requirements to further the goal of achieving a more diverse workforce at the State Department.
In addition, the bill modifies the organization and operations of the State Department by, among other things, (1) providing statutory authority for the Bureau of Consular Affairs and the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration; and (2) authorizing the establishment of an Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources to handle global energy-related issues.
The bill also establishes measures to address State Department information and data security, revises procedures and requirements related to the overseas construction of embassies and consulates, and requires the State Department to report on the efforts of the Coronavirus Repatriation Task Force.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House" stage on May 18, 2021. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 19, 2021: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY) introduced it on February 18, 2021, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 18, 2021, 2030 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1940 days ago, on May 19, 2021.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers