The U.S. budget process is complex, even when it works as designed. In recent years, however, the procedure has been further complicated by partisan disagreements and bureaucratic wrangling, leading to delays and disruption.
There is a standard course that typically starts considerably earlier than one might think — with the administration and the U.S. State Department, USAID, and other agencies determining their budget needs. A monthslong process leads to the president’s budget request which is presented to the U.S. Congress, typically in February or March.
The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate then bring parallel processes to set budgets for various committees, and write and then approve bills. Some years the relevant committees will draft, discuss, and pass foreign aid funding bills, but in others, the process doesn’t work as it is designed and drafts end up bundled with other bills and passed as a group called an omnibus.
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
