Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2602 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 2602
5	5	To prohibit the Executive branch from engaging in any reorganization of
6	6	the Department of State without congressional consultation and approval.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	APRIL2, 2025
9	9	Ms. K
10	10	AMLAGER-DOVE(for herself, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. JACOBS,
11	11	Mr. C
12	12	ASTROof Texas, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mr. KEATING, Ms.
13	13	T
14	14	ITUS, Mr. MFUME, Mr. OLSZEWSKI, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CARTERof
15	15	Louisiana, Ms. T
16	16	OKUDA, Mr. COHEN, Mr. JOHNSONof Georgia, Mr.
17	17	T
18	18	ONKO, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. NORTON, Mr.
19	19	J
20	20	ACKSONof Illinois, and Mr. THANEDAR) introduced the following bill;
21	21	which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL
22	22	To prohibit the Executive branch from engaging in any reor-
23	23	ganization of the Department of State without congres-
24	24	sional consultation and approval.
25	25	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
26	26	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
27	27	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
28	28	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Defending American 4
29	29	Diplomacy Act’’. 5
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32	32	•HR 2602 IH
33	33	SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON IMPLEMENTATION ABSENT SPE-1
34	34	CIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION. 2
35	35	(a) I
36	36	NGENERAL.—No reorganization of the Depart-3
37	37	ment of State may be implemented or otherwise take effect 4
38	38	unless both of the following conditions are met: 5
39	39	(1) There is enacted specific statutory author-6
40	40	ization to carry out such reorganization. 7
41	41	(2) The Secretary of State has submitted to the 8
42	42	appropriate congressional committees a detailed 9
43	43	plan, pursuant to section 3, with respect to the reor-10
44	44	ganization. 11
45	45	(b) C
46	46	ONSEQUENCE FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.—On and 12
47	47	after the date on which the Comptroller General certifies 13
48	48	to the Chair and Ranking Member of each of the appro-14
49	49	priate congressional committees that the Secretary of 15
50	50	State has implemented a reorganization in a manner that 16
51	51	is not in compliance with the prohibition under subsection 17
52	52	(a)— 18
53	53	(1) no Federal funds may be made available to 19
54	54	facilitate any activity of the Department of Govern-20
55	55	ment Efficiency; and 21
56	56	(2) none of the funds appropriated or otherwise 22
57	57	made available to the Department of State may be 23
58	58	obligated or expended for official travel by any po-24
59	59	litically appointed official of the Department. 25
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62	62	•HR 2602 IH
63	63	SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT FOR SUBMISSION OF DETAILED 1
64	64	PLANS. 2
65	65	Upon determining that any reorganization of the De-3
66	66	partment of State or any component of such Department 4
67	67	is necessary, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 5
68	68	appropriate congressional committees a detailed plan for 6
69	69	such reorganization that shall include, at a minimum, the 7
70	70	following elements: 8
71	71	(1) A clear description of the proposed organi-9
72	72	zational changes and a justification for such 10
73	73	changes, including a description of the manner and 11
74	74	extent to which current roles, responsibilities, and 12
75	75	personnel of the Department or relevant component 13
76	76	of the Department will be affected. 14
77	77	(2) A clear description of what, if any, new re-15
78	78	sponsibilities the Department or affected component 16
79	79	will absorb and a detailed plan of how the Depart-17
80	80	ment or affected component will develop or acquire 18
81	81	the competencies and expertise to carry out these 19
82	82	new responsibilities. 20
83	83	(3) An analysis of the potential impacts on the 21
84	84	ability to advance United States foreign policy inter-22
85	85	ests, including impacts to each of the following: 23
86	86	(A) Diplomatic footprint and operations 24
87	87	abroad. 25
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90	90	•HR 2602 IH
91	91	(B) Consular services and visa processing 1
92	92	times, including as a result of any closures of 2
93	93	consulates and diplomatic posts abroad. 3
94	94	(C) The ability to carry out existing multi-4
95	95	lateral and bilateral diplomatic commitments. 5
96	96	(D) Bilateral and multilateral military co-6
97	97	operation and security assistance. 7
98	98	(E) United States intelligence gathering 8
99	99	capabilities and United States intelligence pos-9
100	100	ture abroad. 10
101	101	(F) Interagency coordination with inter-11
102	102	national partners. 12
103	103	(G) Advancing United States development 13
104	104	objectives abroad and facilitating the delivery of 14
105	105	lifesaving humanitarian assistance. 15
106	106	(4) An explanation of how the proposed changes 16
107	107	will improve the Department of State’s ability to 17
108	108	carry out its overall strategic objectives in compari-18
109	109	son to the previous organizational structure. 19
110	110	(5) An assessment of the potential risks or un-20
111	111	intended consequences that may result from the pro-21
112	112	posed changes, including— 22
113	113	(A) how United States competitors might 23
114	114	capitalize on any downsizing of diplomatic func-24
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117	117	•HR 2602 IH
118	118	tions to advance their own military, intelligence, 1
119	119	soft power, economic, or political interests; and 2
120	120	(B) which diplomatic relationships and 3
121	121	United States interests would be especially vul-4
122	122	nerable to the impacts of the desired reorga-5
123	123	nization. 6
124	124	(6) A detailed implementation plan and timeline 7
125	125	for making the proposed changes, including mecha-8
126	126	nisms to mitigate any adverse effects on the Depart-9
127	127	ment or affected component’s functions and per-10
128	128	sonnel that would provide a more stable transition. 11
129	129	(7) A detailed analysis of the impact on the 12
130	130	workforce and personnel of the affected components 13
131	131	as well as the broader Department and a transition 14
132	132	plan for the termination or reassignment and re-15
133	133	training of employees, including plans for the com-16
134	134	pensation of any terminated employees. 17
135	135	(8) A certification that no Federal laws or regu-18
136	136	lations will be violated for the purposes of executing 19
137	137	the reorganization, including specifically that no af-20
138	138	fected employee’s rights or protections will be vio-21
139	139	lated. 22
140	140	SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 23
141	141	In this Act: 24
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144	144	•HR 2602 IH
145	145	(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT -1
146	146	TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-2
147	147	mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs 3
148	148	and Committee on Appropriations of the House of 4
149	149	Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Re-5
150	150	lations and the Committee on Appropriations of the 6
151	151	Senate. 7
152	152	(2) R
153	153	EORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘reorganiza-8
154	154	tion’’ means any action which, pursuant to section 9
155	155	7063 of division F of Public Law 118–47, would re-10
156	156	quire prior consultation and notification. 11
157	157	Æ
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