Diplomatic Reserve Corps Pilot Program Act of 2026

This Act may be cited as the “Diplomatic Reserve Corps Pilot Program Act of 2026”.

(a) Establishment.— Not later than nine months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall establish a Diplomatic Reserve Corps Pilot Program (in this section referred to as the “Pilot Program”) in the Department of State to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of maintaining a reserve cadre of trained personnel available for temporary active service in support of foreign affairs contingencies.

(b) Purpose.— The Pilot Program shall—

(1) provide a surge workforce to support diplomatic operations during crises, evacuations, armed conflicts, natural disasters, and other contingencies affecting United States interests abroad;

(2) assess recruitment, training, readiness, deployment, and retention requirements for a permanent Diplomatic Reserve Corps; and

(3) identify authorities, resources, and organizational structures necessary to sustain such a corps.

(c) Membership.— The Secretary of State may appoint to the Pilot Program retired members of the Foreign Service.

(d) Initial strength.— The Secretary of State shall recruit and maintain not fewer than 250 members in the Pilot Program during the first year of the Pilot Program and may increase membership by up to 250 additional members annually for the following three fiscal years.

(e) Reserve Corps structure.— Of the members of the Pilot Program appointed by the Secretary of State pursuant to subsection (c)—

(1) not more than 30 percent shall be appointed at ranks equivalent to salary class 1 and salary class 2 of the Foreign Service schedule; and

(2) those not appointed at ranks equivalent to salary class 1 and salary class 2 of the Foreign Service schedule shall be appointed at ranks equivalent to salary class 3 and salary class 4 of the Foreign Service schedule.

(f) Training.— Members of the Pilot Program shall complete such orientation, security, medical, and readiness training as the Secretary of State determines appropriate, including training conducted through the National Foreign Affairs Training Center, the Foreign Affairs Security Training Center, and other Department of State facilities.

(g) Activation.— The Secretary of State may activate members of the Pilot Program for temporary service in support of diplomatic operations, crisis response, evacuation efforts, disaster response, consular surge requirements, or other foreign affairs contingencies.

(h) Evaluation.— The Secretary of State shall establish readiness standards and conduct annual evaluations of the training status and availability for deployment of each member of the Pilot Program.

(i) Initial plan to Congress.— Not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report detailing the Secretary’s plans and timeline to establish, structure, and implement the Pilot Program.

(j) Final report to Congress.—

(1) In general.— Not later than three years after the establishment of the Pilot Program, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report evaluating the Pilot Program and providing recommendations regarding establishment of a permanent Diplomatic Reserve Corps.

(2) Matters to be included.— The report required by paragraph (1) shall additionally include an assessment on expanding eligible appointment to the Diplomatic Reserve Corps to—

(A) retired Civil Service employees of the Department of State;

(B) retired employees of other Federal agencies possessing relevant skills and experience; and

(C) qualified individuals from outside the Federal Government possessing critical language, regional, technical, medical, security, consular, management, or diplomatic expertise.

(k) Termination.— The Pilot Program shall terminate on the date that is three years after the date of the enactment of this Act, unless reauthorized by Congress.