REPORT ON PILOT PROGRAM FOR LATERAL ENTRY INTO THE FOREIGN SERVICE.

SEC. 9217. REPORT ON PILOT PROGRAM FOR LATERAL ENTRY INTO THE FOREIGN SERVICE. (a) In General.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of State for Management shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees describing the implementation of the pilot program for lateral entry into the Foreign Service required under section 404(b) of the Department of State Authorities Act, Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-323; 130 Stat. 1928). (b) Matters to Be Included.—The report required under subsection (a) shall include— (1) the current status of implementation of the pilot program, including a summary of concrete steps taken by the Department to implement the pilot program; (2) an explanation of any delays in implementation of the pilot program; (3) the number of mid-career individuals from the Civil Service of the Department and the private sector who are expected to participate in the pilot program during fiscal year 2023, disaggregated, to the extent practicable and to the maximum extent that the collection of such data is permissible by law, by sex, age, race and ethnicity, geographic origin, and past occupation; (4) an analysis of the skills gap identified by the Department for the use of the pilot program’s flexible-hiring mechanism; (5) any legal justification provided by the Office of the Legal Adviser of the Department if the Department did not implement the pilot program; and (6) the estimated date by which the Department is expected to implement the pilot program.