President Joe Biden’s 2025 budget proposal, introduced on Monday even as Congress still struggles to approve 2024 funding, includes a marginal 1% increase from last year’s spending.
In its $7.3 trillion budget proposal, the Biden administration has requested $64.4 billion for foreign affairs programs, well below the $70.5 billion sought last year. Of that, $58.8 billion will go to the U.S. Department of State and USAID.
While global development advocates recognize the administration didn’t have a lot of flexibility in foreign assistance spending given the budget caps agreed with Republicans last year, many said they were nonetheless concerned that the proposed funding levels wouldn’t meet the need of the moment.