The year ahead is likely to be unpredictable, contentious, and challenging in the U.S. Congress. Many foreign aid priorities from 2023 remain unfinished business, with roadblocks thrown up as the stakes are incredibly high, policy experts and development advocates told Devex.
“There’s literally red warning lights that are flashing for 2024 and whether it’s terrorism, authoritarianism, global hunger, if we ignore it we do so at our peril,” Liz Schrayer, president and CEO of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, told Devex. “The stakes could not be higher for America’s interest in how we engage, how seriously we engage in the world.”
Challenges range from contentious politics within the Republican Party to clashes between Democrats and Republicans, a tight calendar with the presidential election looming, and a constrained fiscal environment. Many of those issues made it hard to pass legislation in 2023, including anything related to foreign aid.