US Code

Public Law 119-87 (04/30/2026)

22 U.S.C. § 3945

Senior Foreign Service

(a)

Salary class

section 3962 of this titleAppointment to the Senior Foreign Service shall be to a salary class established under , and not to a position.

(b)

Limited appointment

section 3950 of this titleAn individual may not be given a limited appointment in the Senior Foreign Service if that appointment would cause the number of members of the Senior Foreign Service serving under limited appointments to exceed 5 percent of the total number of members of the Senior Foreign Service, except that (1) members of the Senior Foreign Service assigned to the Peace Corps shall be excluded in the calculation and application of this limitation, and (2) members of the Senior Foreign Service serving under limited appointments with reemployment rights under as career appointees in the Senior Executive Service shall be considered to be career members of the Senior Foreign Service for purposes of this subsection.

(c)

Appointments by Secretary of Commerce

(1)
Appointments to the Senior Foreign Service by the Secretary of Commerce shall be excluded in the calculation and application of the limitation in subsection (b).
(2)
section 3950 of this title Except as provided in paragraph (3), no more than one individual (other than an individual with reemployment rights under as a career appointee in the Senior Executive Service) may serve under a limited appointment in the Senior Foreign Service in the Department of Commerce at any time.
(3)
The Secretary of Commerce may appoint an individual to a limited appointment in the Senior Foreign Service for a specific position abroad if—
(A)
no career member of the Service who has the necessary qualifications is available to serve in the position; and
(B)
the individual appointed has unique qualifications for the specific position.
(d)

Recertification process

section 3393a of title 51

1 See References in Text note below.
The Secretary shall by regulation establish a recertification process for members of the Senior Foreign Service that is equivalent to the recertification process for the Senior Executive Service under .

Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 30594 Stat. 2086 Pub. L. 99–93, title I, § 119(a)99 Stat. 412 Pub. L. 101–194, title V, § 506(c)(1)103 Stat. 1759 Pub. L. 101–280, § 6(d)(3)104 Stat. 160 (, , ; , , ; , , ; , , .)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Section 3393a of title 5Pub. L. 107–296, title XIII, § 1321(a)(1)(B)116 Stat. 2296 , referred to in subsec. (d), was repealed by , , .

Amendments

Pub. L. 101–280Pub. L. 101–1941990—Subsec. (d). made technical correction to . See 1989 Amendment note below.

Pub. L. 101–194Pub. L. 101–2801989—Subsec. (d). , as amended by , added subsec. (d).

Pub. L. 99–931985—Subsec. (c). added subsec. (c).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1989 Amendment

Pub. L. 101–194section 506(d) of Pub. L. 101–194section 3151 of Title 5Amendment by effective , see , set out as a note under , Government Organization and Employees.

Effective Date of 1985 Amendment

Pub. L. 99–93, title I, § 119(c)99 Stat. 412

section 3901 of this title“The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) [amending this section and provisions set out as a note under ] shall take effect on .”
, , , provided that:

Effective Date

section 119(b) of Pub. L. 99–93section 2403 of Pub. L. 96–465section 3901 of this titleSection effective , with an exception that appointments to the Senior Foreign Service by the Secretary of Commerce shall be excluded in the calculation and limitation in subsec. (b) of this section until , which was repealed by , see , set out as a note under .

Placement of Senior Foreign Service Personnel

Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, § 1000(a)(7) [div. A, title III, § 324]113 Stat. 1536 Pub. L. 107–228, div. A, title VI, § 671(4)116 Stat. 1407 , , , 1501A–437, required the Director General of the Foreign Service to submit a report on the first day of each fiscal quarter to the appropriate congressional committees containing the number of members of the Senior Foreign Service, the number of vacant positions designated for such members, and the number of those members not assigned to positions, prior to repeal by , , .