Budget Day on The Cable
The Obama administration has requested $52.8 billion for the State Department and USAID for fiscal 2011, the Office of Management and Budget announced as part of its budget rollout today. That’s $4.9 billion more than appropriated for the same accounts in fiscal 2010, a 10 percent increase, according to State Department officials. USAID would receive ...
The Obama administration has requested $52.8 billion for the State Department and USAID for fiscal 2011, the Office of Management and Budget announced as part of its budget rollout today.
The Obama administration has requested $52.8 billion for the State Department and USAID for fiscal 2011, the Office of Management and Budget announced as part of its budget rollout today.
That’s $4.9 billion more than appropriated for the same accounts in fiscal 2010, a 10 percent increase, according to State Department officials. USAID would receive $1.7 billion under the request, about $50 million more than what they received for fiscal 2010. As part of the new fiscal 2010 supplemental funding request for fiscal 2010, the president is also asking for an additional $4.5 billion in State Department and related funding, for ongoing contingency operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and related to what was once known as the "global war on terror."
Inside the fiscal 2011 request, the administration is asking for $4 billion for Afghanistan and $3.1 billion for Pakistan that will go toward assisting those two governments and adding 500 new American staff.That’s a significant increase from the $2.6 billion and $1.5 billion given by Congress toward these efforts for fiscal 2010, respectively.
$2.6 billion is requested in the regular budget for helping State take over missions in Iraq such as police training and to help State with security and logistics as it takes over responsibility there.
Another $8.5 billion is requested for the Global Health Initiative, 9 percent above fiscal 2010 levels. "By 2011, countries receiving health assistance will better address priority health needs of women and children, with progress measured by USG and UNICEF-collected data and indicators," the OMB materials state.
The administration asked for $1.6 billion for agricultural development and nutritional programs, $1.4 billion to help developing countries adapt to climate change, and $1.3 billion for new Millennium Challenge Corporation grants to countries like Indonesia and Zambia.
"It’s a budget that reflects the serious challenges facing the country," President Obama said Monday morning. "We’re at war. Our economy has lost 7 million jobs over the last two years. And our government is deeply in debt after what can only be described as a decade of profligacy."
Check back in throughout the day for more budget day updates.
NOTE: An earlier version of this story had the number at $56.8 billion, which was based on a summary issued by OMB before the actual budget materials were released.
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
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