June 26, 2025
Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
To modify the voluntary retirement requirements for members of the Foreign Service, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Foreign Service Voluntary Early Retirement Authority Act of 2025
.
Sec. 2. Modification to voluntary retirement requirements for members of the Foreign Service
(a) In general
Section 811 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4051) is amended—
(1)
by striking Any participant who is at least
and inserting (a) Any participant who is at least
; and
(2)
by adding at the end the following:
(b)
Any participant (as that term is defined in section 853) who is not entitled to an annuity under subsection (a) of this section, or section 609(a)(2)(B) or 808 of this Act, and who is at least 43 years of age and has completed at least 15 years of creditable service and who is separated from the Foreign Service or any other agency utilizing the Foreign Service personnel system during a period in which, as determined by the Office of Personnel Management (upon request of the Foreign Service or such other agency), under regulations prescribed by the Office, that—
(1)
the Foreign Service or other such agency (or if applicable, the component in which the employee is serving) is undergoing substantial delayering, substantial reorganization, substantial reductions in force, substantial transfer of function, or other substantial workforce restructuring (or shaping);
(2)
a significant percentage of employees servicing in the Foreign Service or other such agency (or component) are likely to be separated or subject to an immediate reduction in the rate of basic pay (without regard to subchapter VI of chapter 53, or comparable provisions); or
(3)
identified as being in positions which are becoming surplus or excess to the Foreign Service’s or other such agency’s future ability to carry out its mission effectively,
shall be entitled to, on the participant’s application and with the consent of the Secretary or the head of such other agency, be retired from the Service or other such agency and entitled to an annuity. Such annuity shall be computed in the same manner as an annuity for an employee under section 8415(e) of title 5, United States Code.
(b) Application
(1) In general
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall apply to individuals involuntarily or voluntarily separated from the Foreign Service during the period beginning on January 20, 2025, and ending on the date of enactment of this Act, and to individuals voluntarily separated from the Foreign Service after the date of the enactment of this Act, subject to the terms and conditions of subsection (b) of section 811 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4051), as added by subsection (a)(2) of this Act.
(2) Funding
If amounts in the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability Fund are inadequate to pay benefits payable under such subsection (b), amounts in the general fund of the Treasury not otherwise appropriated may be used to pay for such benefits.
(c) Sense of Congress
It is the sense of the Congress that any individual who receives an annuity under subsection (b) of section 811 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4051), as added by subsection (a)(2) of this Act, shall be eligible to retain health care benefits under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program if such individual was enrolled in such Program on the date of separation.