Posted: 2:34 pm PT
Updated: 3:52 pm PT
Updated: 5:09 pm PT (correction memo from OMB not OPM)
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The following guidance memo from OPM OMB via Federal News Radio includes some guidance following President Trump’s memorandum on the federal hiring freeze (see President Trump Freezes Federal Hiring Regardless of Funding Sources (Read Memo). Of relevance to Foreign Service candidates expected to start classes in March, the OMB memo says that “an individual who has received a job offer/appointment prior to January 22, 2017, and who has received documentation from the agency that specifies a confirmed start date on or before January 22, 2017 February 22, 2017 should report to work on that start date.”
We’ve checked with the State Department about the hiring freeze, as well as impact on EFM and WAE jobs. We will update this if we get an official response. The official response from the State Department refers us back to the White House.
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The guidance referenced in the article was promulgated by OMB, not OPM.
Apologies, thanks. I’ve made the correction.
Diplopundit, after reviewing the OPM guidance, it appears that the March FSO and FSS classes are not out of the woods yet.
1. These classes received class invitations and confirmations, but never received appointment letters.
2. The classes are scheduled to start after February 22, which leads it up to the discretion of agency head.
Do you have more information or reason to believe the agency head would approve their appointments?
*leaves it up to
I corrected the typo on the date in my blogpost. I’m so sorry, I don’t have anything more to add. State’s official response referred us back to the WH. We’ll probably learn more next week after the confirmation.