66 JULY-AUGUST 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA TERM REPORT The 2023-2025 board term presented AFSA with new challenges in Congress. Narrow partisan margins in both chambers and the buildup to a presidential election slowed legislative action and limited lawmakers’ time in Washington. AFSA found opportunities to push the organization’s advocacy priorities and adapt to a more constrained budget environment over the past two years. In response to current and expected further federal reductions in force in early 2025, AFSA’s Governing Board agreed to seek a time-limited Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) option for members of the Foreign Service. This would ensure those at FS-2 and below, or those not yet eligible for voluntary retirement benefits, are given a compassionate transition out of the Foreign Service. This option needs to be authorized by Congress, and AFSA continued to push for this option into spring 2025. AFSA’s advocacy also focused on playing defense to protect earned benefits for members of the Foreign Service during the reconciliation process. During this board’s term, AFSA saw Congress pass its third and fourth comprehensive State Department Authorization Acts in a row. Through this vehicle, AFSA helped push through priorities meant to ease life in the Foreign Service and better accommodate the mobile lifestyle. AFSA put forward priorities key to recruitment and retention in the Foreign Service, focusing on those that were no- and low-cost to ensure bipartisan support. AFSA successfully fought to protect the existing authority for overseas comparability pay (OCP) and see it extend through Dec. 31, 2034—the longest extension in its history. Previously, AFSA relied on appropriators to keep OCP in its funding bills and reauthorize it each year. Now, OCP authority is part of the authorization process. AFSA continues to fight for the third tranche of OCP, or full D.C. locality pay, and funding for it with the threat of authority expiration behind us. AFSA’s advocacy work also built on and expanded past wins. For example, Congress expanded the provision allowing Foreign Service members to break residential and vehicles leases, as well as telephone service contracts, without financial penalties when given orders to serve domestically. This builds on the Foreign Service Families Act, which provided this protection to those given orders to serve overseas. AFSA’s advocacy sought to ensure newer benefits apply to Foreign Service members in all foreign affairs agencies as well. All those under chief of mission authority now have a Fly America Act exception when relocating with pets when no certified United States air carrier is willing or able to do so. This was previously only a benefit for State Department employees. AFSA also significantly increased our state and local advocacy reach over the past two years. AFSA advocated for protecting Foreign Service members’ voting rights in South Dakota, addressing concerns about voter registration denials for overseas personnel. AFSA advanced existing work on issues ranging from pension tax exemptions to homestead protections and school enrollment policies for Foreign Service families. Our geographic expansion, now reaching six states across four regions, demonstrates AFSA’s growing influence in addressing the unique challenges faced by Foreign Service members at the state level. Finally, in relation to the AFSA and Foreign Service centennial in 2024, our team worked to receive formal recognition of the Foreign Service centennial through resolutions from Congress, the state legislature of Virginia, and the D.C. City Council. Advocacy Communications and Outreach Over the past two years, AFSA has transformed its communications and outreach efforts, balancing the celebration of our centennial with the urgent need to defend the Foreign Service amid unprecedented workforce disruptions. AFSA’s centennial year honored our 100-year legacy while raising the Foreign Service’s public’s profile. We organized a centennial gala at the State Department, held events at presidential libraries, and launched a social media campaign that increased engagement across our channels by 1,500 percent. Our op-ed initiative placed Foreign Service voices in more than 15 media outlets, including The Hill and The Arizona
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