Today, the Biden-Harris Administration submitted to Congress the President's Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2023, which includes $60.4 billion for the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Within this request, $29.4 billion is included for accounts that USAID will fully or partially manage, and will continue to directly support the President’s vision of restoring America’s leadership around the globe. The request also includes vital assistance to respond to the growing number of development priorities and global humanitarian crises, including additional resources to assist the people of Ukraine and those impacted by Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion. The budget additionally includes $6.5 billion in mandatory funding to make transformative investments in pandemic and other biological threat preparedness globally.
The President’s Budget details his vision to expand on the historic progress our country has made over the last year and deliver the agenda he laid out in his State of the Union address—to build a better America, reduce the deficit, reduce costs for families, and grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out. USAID’s FY 2023 request represents the resources needed to continue the work of making development more inclusive and meeting urgent challenges around the world.
President Biden has long said: “Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget.” This Budget Request reflects the clear value of our nation’s development and humanitarian assistance.
The Budget makes critical investments in the American people that will help lay a stronger foundation for shared growth and prosperity for generations to come. At the Department of State and USAID, the Budget would:
- Revitalizes Democracy ($2.96 billion) to empower local partners, provide transparency in political systems, and address authoritarianism and disinformation. Of this foreign assistance request for democracy, $2.6 billion is in accounts that USAID will fully or partially manage. The request will advance the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal introduced at the Summit for Democracy, a landmark set of policy and foreign assistance initiatives that support free and independent media, empower historically marginalized groups and democratic reformers, and help develop open, secure, and inclusive digital ecosystems. This amount includes funding to implement the Presidential Memorandum on Advancing the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons, as well as the European Democratic Resilience Initiative to support societal resilience and defend human rights in Ukraine neighboring countries.
- Fight Transnational Corruption ($100 million) by empowering anti-corruption champions, strengthening partner countries’ ability to detect and prevent corruption, and exposing and disrupting the flow of illicit money, goods, and natural resources. This is a 100% increase for USAID programming above the FY 2022 request.
- Bolster Humanitarian Assistance ($10.5 billion) including $6.4 billion in USAID-administered humanitarian assistance to respond to an average of 75 crises annually in more than 70 countries, including conflict, protracted crises and emerging crises and natural disasters.
- More Than Double Our Commitment to Women’s Empowerment, Equality, and Equity ($2.6 billion) for USAID and the Department of State to promote gender equality and the political, economic, and social empowerment of women and girls; prevent and respond to gender-based violence; and expand access to child, elder, and home care services;
- Revitalize Our USAID Workforce ($1.7 billion) by advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, and increasing the number of U.S. direct-hire positions that advance our most critical and effective foreign assistance programs.
- Restore U.S. Climate Leadership ($2.3 billion) by placing the climate crisis at the center of our national security and foreign policy. This includes over $1.6 billion in direct USAID and Department of State programming for climate mitigation and adaptation and over $650 million in programming across development sectors—including water, health and health security, and agriculture—that provides significant climate co-benefits. This level will more than double USAID implemented programs and dramatically expand the scale and geographic reach of USAID’s programs to increase climate action through investments in renewable energy, adaptation, and the conservation, restoration and management of land that captures and stores carbon. This increased funding will play a key role in helping to meet the President’s historic pledge to quadruple international climate finance a year early.
- Invest in Locally-Led Development ($47 million) through programs such as USAID’s localization initiative for northern Central America, Centroamérica Local, which engage new and diverse community-based organizations to develop and implement locally-led approaches to development and humanitarian challenges. This program supports the Administrator's $300 million initiative to engage and empower local organizations;
- Address the Root Causes of Irregular Migration Across Central America ($987 million) by continuing to support USAID and the Department of State efforts to address economic insecurity, combat corruption, strengthen democratic governance, promote human rights, combat gender-based violence, and support legal immigration pathways;
- Advance American Leadership in Global Health and Global Health Security ($3.96 billion) to prevent child and maternal deaths, bolster nutrition, control the HIV/AIDS epidemic, expand the global health workforce, and combat infectious diseases. Funding in USAID-managed assistance will respond to the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on global health programs including tuberculosis and malaria, as well as strengthening health systems and global health security to better prevent, detect, and respond to future infectious disease outbreaks.
- Transform and enhance Pandemic Preparedness ($6.5 billion in mandatory funding) to build upon annual global health and health security investments. This request of mandatory funding is included in addition to USAID’s request for fully and partially managed accounts. These mandatory funds will make transformative investments in pandemic and other biological threat preparedness globally by strengthening the global health workforce, advancing global research, improving development capacity, and providing health security financing to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks such as COVID.
In a world where challenges like COVID-19, the climate crisis, and autocratic belligerence have massive consequences for us here at home, the Fiscal Year 2023 President’s Budget Request seeks to equip us to tackle the most pressing challenges of our time, all while strengthening our national security, safeguarding our economy, and advancing our national values.
For more information about the FY 2023 budget request visit here.
