Below please find the listing of Federal Register announcements issued by the U.S. Departments of State, Education, and Homeland Security, and USAID since 12/13/2016.
If you would like more information on any items on the list, please email us and provide the item number located next to the announcement. Requests are processed on a daily basis. Please feel free to contact us with additional questions.
After approval in both Chambers of Congress last week, President Barack Obama signed into law an FY 2017 continuing resolution (CR) that will keep the government funded until April 28, 2017, at the fiscal cap of $1.07 trillion, CQ.com reported. The legislation allocates a total of “$58.8 billion for the International Affairs Budget, an increase of $4.2 billion (8%) above FY16 levels”, according to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.
For the first time in 14 years, Congress approved and sent to President Obama to be signed into law, a Department of State Authorization Act (S.1635), as announced in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) press release.
President Barack Obama recently issued an executive order granting Non-Competitive Eligibility (NCE) to alumni of three federally-funded Department of State academic exchange programs: the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, and the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program. Non-Competitive Eligibility is a specific hiring mechanism that provides an easier selection path for U.S. government positions.
A new agreement between Ireland and the United States will add a three-year extension to the Ireland Work and Travel (IWT) program, lengthening the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two governments. According to a press release by the U.S. Embassy Dublin, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) Evan Ryan, and Her Excellency, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States Anne Anderson, signed the diplomatic agreement to renew the visa program on December 5. According to the Irish Central, the IWT program has been renewed every two years for two years since its inception in 2008 – the December 5 signing marked the first time an extension was signed for more than two years.