For Immediate Release
October 1, 2026
Press Contact: Communications & Outreach Director Nikki Gamer | gamer@afsa.org
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. foreign affairs agencies violated federal law by unilaterally appointing members of the Foreign Service Grievance Board (FSGB), the independent body that reviews challenges to personnel decisions affecting U.S. Foreign Service employees. The terms of the board’s remaining members expired on Sept. 30. AFSA learned of the appointments only after they had been made.
The Foreign Service Act of 1980 requires board nominees to be approved in writing by the covered agencies and their recognized employee representatives. AFSA is still the recognized exclusive representative at several of those agencies. Congress required our participation, yet the agencies proceeded without it, rejecting a statutory safeguard designed to protect the board’s independence. Never in the board's history has AFSA been excluded from the process.
Congress requires board members to be “independent, distinguished citizens of the United States, well known for their integrity” who are neither employees of the foreign affairs agencies nor members of the Foreign Service.
Requiring approval from both the covered agencies and their recognized employee representatives helps safeguard the board’s independence. Bypassing that requirement removes a check on the agencies’ ability to select the people who will review challenges to their own personnel decisions.
The board’s independence is fundamental to the integrity of the Foreign Service personnel system. For employees facing dismissal, lost pay or other personnel issues, impartiality matters: Their careers and livelihoods are on the line. Congress gave employee representatives a voice in selecting this board. The agencies don’t get to silence that voice because they find it inconvenient.
We see this move as another warning sign of further politicization of the federal workforce. The issue is whether career public servants can challenge decisions affecting their employment and receive a fair hearing, regardless of which party is in power.
AFSA is a union and professional association governed by career diplomats who have served under Republican and Democratic administrations. We have devoted our careers to a professional, nonpartisan Foreign Service—a commitment we take seriously. We expect the protections supporting it to be taken seriously.
AFSA is considering all legal options to challenge these appointments, which we maintain violate the Foreign Service Act. Public servants deserve a fair hearing. That starts with a board their employer cannot handpick on its own.
The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) is the professional association and labor union of the men and women of the United States Foreign Service.