The Hill: Dems demand Tillerson end State hiring freeze, consult with Congress
“The 10 Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee sent a lengthy letter Wednesday to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson demanding that he end a hiring freeze at the State Department and explain his plan to restructure the agency to Congress. In a lengthy letter to Tillerson, the group of senators, led by ranking member Ben Cardin (Md.) blasted Tillerson for making the changes to the department ‘largely behind closed doors’…” (Bowden, 12/6).

Devex: 6 weeks after cancellations, USAID reinstates foreign service applicants
“Applicants for the United States Agency for International Development’s foreign service still don’t have jobs, but at least they won’t have to start the hiring process all over again. In late October, USAID abruptly informed candidates for the agency’s foreign service — many of whom had spent more than a year in the application and clearance process — that the positions they had applied for no longer existed. They still don’t, but now those job seekers will be allowed to remain on USAID’s active roster for jobs that may or may not become available in the future. The news comes as a qualified consolation prize for applicants otherwise faced with having to start the lengthy foreign service application process all over again…” (Igoe, 12/6).