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H.R. 9086119th CongressInternational Affairs
Foreign Service Modernization Act
Sponsored by Rep. Michael Lawler (R-NY) · 3 active : 3 Republicans
Latest action: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Where it standsPassed House, now in the Senate7 senators score as swing votes
Passed House
- House: passedSep 16, 2026
- Senate: next
- President: not yet
Summary
, via Congress.govForeign Service Modernization Act
This bill requires or authorizes certain actions related to U.S. Foreign Service (FS) management and operations, including an increased focus on expeditionary diplomacy (a concept that emphasizes diplomats conducting direct diplomacy in high-risk environments outside of the embassy), expanded hiring pathways, and additional training requirements.
For example, the bill requires the Department of State to establish
a team to develop a plan to improve the capability and willingness of FS members and leaders to engage in expeditionary diplomacy;
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a program to recruit qualified veterans and separating military personnel into the FS, including by integrating FS recruitment into military transition programs; and
a Diplomatic Reserve Corps pilot program to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of a trained reserve cadre providing a surge workforce to support foreign affairs contingencies.
Additionally, the State Department is authorized to establish a structured training framework that is integrated into normal career progression with protected training periods (similar to the Armed Forces' professional military education model).
The bill specifies that FS members
must successfully complete specified leadership and management training prior to assuming leadership assignments;
who participate in approved external training, education, or details shall have certain employment protections (such as eligibility for promotions and pay increases on the same basis as those not on such assignments); and
How the projections held up
Each member’s recorded vote compared with their swing projection from before the vote. A member by voting against most of their own party.
House
Passed by voice vote or unanimous consent: no individual votes recorded.
Committees and subjects
Committees
- House Committee on Foreign Affairs · HouseReferred to
- House Committee on Ways and Means · HouseReferred to
- Senate Committee on Foreign Relations · SenateReferred to
Subjects
- Advisory bodies
- Asia
- Australia
- Business records
- China
- Computer security and identity theft
- Computers and information technology
- Congressional oversight
- Department of State
- Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad
- Drug trafficking and controlled substances
How the Senate breaks down
- 7Swing 70–100
- 65Middle 30–70
- 28Entrenched 0–30
Members fall into . All 100 senators have enough data to score.
Key players in the Senate
Ranked by swing score, 0–100 · swing-v2Bars show each input from 0 to 100: ideology gap, scorecard gap, . is the seat’s partisan lean, and shows how much of the input data a score has.
Similar past votes, Senate
Earlier behind swing-v3’s inputLoading similar votes
Cosponsors
3 activeShow all 3 cosponsors
- Brian J. Mast (R-FL-21)
- Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA-7)
- Craig A. Goldman (R-TX-12)
How the swing score works
Ideology gapHow far a member’s DW-NOMINATE voting score sits from their party’s median in the same chamber.
Scorecard gapHow far their Heritage Action and LCV ratings stray from their party’s average, using the groups’ votes on similar bills where available.
Cross-pressureHow strongly their district or state leans toward the other party, from our own computed partisan lean.
Similar votesHow often they voted against their own party on earlier roll calls about this bill or similar ones.
Committee bonusMembers of the committees handling the bill decide whether it moves, so they get a boost.
Cosponsor checkThe sponsor and active cosponsors have already committed, so they drop toward entrenched.
