US Congress passes budget bill, but questions remain on foreign aid
By Adva Saldinger // 16 March 2025
The U.S. Congress passed a budget bill late on Friday, averting a government shutdown, but experts say questions persist on foreign assistance funding.
Rather than writing and passing a specific budget for the 2025 fiscal year, which is already nearly halfway through, Congress instead passed a continuing resolution that will fund the government at 2024 levels through the end of September. That means Congress is technically appropriating about $60 billion in previously agreed-upon foreign assistance.
“In this environment of change and disruption, having Congress pass level funding for foreign assistance” could be seen as a “huge win,” said Lisa Bos, vice president of global development policy, advocacy, and learning at InterAction.
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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.
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