The $50 billion compromise appropriations bill introduced this week and approved by the House of Representatives came as a welcome surprise, setting a new — albeit lower — baseline for U.S. foreign assistance spending and opening up a fresh set of questions about if and how funding will actually be implemented, development experts and advocates tell Devex.
“We are very pleased to see the bill introduced, and are very pleased to see the levels of spending where they are,” said David Cronin, government relations manager at Catholic Relief Services. “The most important thing from this bill is not even the text itself. It’s the fact that it exists, that it’s been introduced, and that it’s bicameral, bipartisan.”
It also helps answer some of the biggest questions that have loomed over foreign aid during the past year: Is there a path forward, and can there be bipartisan agreement on that path? The answer to both appears to be yes, Cronin said, even if things are done differently. Many U.S. foreign assistance programs will continue, he added.