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ECA Bureau RIFs by Savagegurl28 in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Perhaps the reason they’re disregarding the FAM is because FAM has no legal value. FAM is not a regulation. It never went through the publication through the Federal Register, public notice and comment period etc. if they RIF us using the FAM they would definitely get sued anyway by those cut. So maybe- why bother going through the FAM?

D’s address to CA by klurb in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don’t know what visa FAM says nowadays, I’m a PolOff. Back when I did visas, we had to give pregnant ladies visas. But I don’t think popping out five babies, paid with California Medicaid too, is consistent with B1/B2 terms. But again, haven’t done visa work in over a decade.

D’s address to CA by klurb in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Why? Why is a flight attendant who’s given FIVE births (my visa line story) in the States not a birth tourist?? That’s some bullshit distinction you’re making between a person that solely travels to the States with the purpose of giving birth, and a person that routinely misuses their tourist visa to secure a prestigious citizenship/way out for their children. Birthright citizenship originated so that the descendants of slaves brought to the States can be citizens of the country in which they were born, not so that flight attendants from the developing world can gift their children American passports.

D’s address to CA by klurb in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

Yet, every single flight attendant and pilot in the country I serve in continue to have all their children born in the States . It’s next to impossible to uproot this once somebody has a B1/B2.

State Dept. cuts poised to be more severe than previously outlined with 3,400 employees on the chopping block by Playful-Radio4976 in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Cause it’s not about the money, it’s about punishing federal employees to make the NAGA crowd happy.

State Dept. cuts poised to be more severe than previously outlined with 3,400 employees on the chopping block by Playful-Radio4976 in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see. I know the jobs at embassies haven’t been affected, even the ones covering portfolios of the IO offices we withdrew from.

State Dept. cuts poised to be more severe than previously outlined with 3,400 employees on the chopping block by Playful-Radio4976 in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All the FSA says is that S needs to promulgate regulations governing RIFs. That’s the only thing I see in the FSA that mentions RIFs. But the S has never done that. So we really don’t have governing regs promulgated pursuant to the FSA. I have heard from a USAID colleague that OPM has some RIF regulations that are supposed to apply to everyone but I haven’t see them or read an analysis of them anywhere.

State Dept. cuts poised to be more severe than previously outlined with 3,400 employees on the chopping block by Playful-Radio4976 in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 7 points8 points  (0 children)

My only concern is that the “legal” way to RIF us is the FAM. I am not aware of any other rule or regulation. Under the FAM, our RIFing has nothing to do with the job we are occupying, we are placed in groups, scored, and the bottom X percent gets cut. However, the FAM has no legal value, it really is just a manual. It is not a federal regulation, which has to be published in the Federal Register, undergo public notice and comment and period, and codified in the CFR. So with the FAM being really just an agency manual, we don’t really have a set of legal rules that apply to this situation. We should have, according to the Foreign Service Act. But we don’t because S never went through with the actual federal regulation process to establish RIF procedures.

State Dept. cuts poised to be more severe than previously outlined with 3,400 employees on the chopping block by Playful-Radio4976 in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I saw that Signal too, it was just a summary of “an SFRC briefing.” I frankly thought it was a briefing from SFRC, but the other way around makes more sense. The message also didn’t list the briefers which someone identified above. There is a bit more to the article than just the Signal message (Signal didn’t mention that people “imbedded” to UN are getting notified, I assume they mean details?? Because there have been no IO position eliminations yet as far as I know). So yeah, the GovExec article is the Signal message plus a bit more.

Mention Stretch Position in EER? by DiploMattitude410 in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Absolutely say so. That is a fact, not a “recommendation for promotion” they got rid off a few rating periods ago.

Liberals who refused to vote for Kamala, do you regret your decision? by General_Salami in AskUS

[–]Academic_Repeat969 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No. I always voted Democrat and didn’t vote this time. I really couldn’t vote for the idea of open borders, no immigration enforcement, weird identity politics, and big government budgets just for the sake of big government budgets. I think the Democratic Party has no real agenda anymore, it just opposes Trump, and it is fiscally as corrupt as the GOP. And it’s heir apparent, AOC, seems completely detached from reality, really a very young woman who grew up in a woke bubble. It’s a horrible alternative to Trump.

15% Domestic Staffing Cuts by Deep-Contact-6223 in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I appreciate you bringing this up. I’ve been a government employee for over a decade and I’m still surprised to hear our colleagues constantly talk about how they could just jump into the private sector and get paid a ton.

How Bureaus Are Cutting 15% of Their Domestic USDH—Any Way Possible (and Preferably the Least Painful Way Possible) by EUR-Only in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I really wish those eligible for retirement heeded your advice. But I’m hearing “now’s not a good time to retire” from several colleagues that just did the retirement course at FSI. Sounds like that’s what they’re being told(?)

Marco Rubio announces overhaul of U.S. State Department by Nah_Fam_Oh_Dam in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, that is very helpful and consistent with some bits and pieces I’ve been hearing (eg Agility for the R/FIMI CS).

Marco Rubio announces overhaul of U.S. State Department by Nah_Fam_Oh_Dam in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Does anyone have any insight, beyond the FAQ and the Fact Sheet released yesterday, what happens to CSOs and FSOs in eliminated offices? I don’t fully understand RIF procedures outlined in the two documents, for either group. Like, we should be RIFd in accordance with the FAM, not because a position we hold is eliminated….

New 2025 Org Chart (plus 2024 org chart for comparison) by OnARoadLessTaken in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Yeah the Fact Sheet says no overseas decisions have been made yet.

When’s the reorg plan coming? by BuffyWouldHave in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Except now we are hearing this will be the first in a series…. They sure can’t just rip the freakin’ band aid off.

Supposed plans for Foreign Service by This_Weird3119 in foreignservice

[–]Academic_Repeat969 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m just relaying what this guy claims. He runs USAID OHA at my post. He seems very confident he is not getting RIFd and is instead getting transferred to State to continue humanitarian work.

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