US Republicans proposed a targeted hiring push for Africa specialists at the State Department to bolster diplomatic capacity on a continent where Washington is struggling to keep pace with rivals.

The Foreign Service Modernization Act would address staffing and ambassador shortages amid broader efforts to shrink the professional civil service under the Trump administration. The bill also calls for greater investment in critical foreign-language expertise including Arabic, French, and Swahili to push for deeper regional knowledge.

The bill was submitted to Congress a day after veteran naval officer Frank Garcia was sworn in as assistant secretary of state for African affairs, ending a lengthy vacancy atop the Africa bureau. Garcia takes over as the administration steps up its shift toward commercial diplomacy, strategic competition and security cooperation. Yet the State Department is facing questions about whether it has enough personnel and expertise to advance US interests in a region where China, Gulf states, Türkiye, and Russia have all expanded their presence.