Budget winners and losers
The president’s budget request (pdf) for the State Department and foreign operations includes funding for 599 new jobs, 75 percent of those overseas. One-hundred thirty of those will go to expanded diplomatic and consular operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The rest are spread around the State Department and the world. "We at the State ...
The president's budget request (pdf) for the State Department and foreign operations includes funding for 599 new jobs, 75 percent of those overseas. One-hundred thirty of those will go to expanded diplomatic and consular operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The rest are spread around the State Department and the world.
The president’s budget request (pdf) for the State Department and foreign operations includes funding for 599 new jobs, 75 percent of those overseas. One-hundred thirty of those will go to expanded diplomatic and consular operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The rest are spread around the State Department and the world.
"We at the State Department and USAID are ready and eager to take the lead in carrying out the President‘s foreign policy agenda," wrote Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "Indeed, our work has already begun."
Here are some of the bureaus that are about to get much bigger, and some that are not … assuming the budget request makes it through Congress intact, that is:
Winners:
Bureau of African Affairs: The AF request includes $12 million for 37 new positions, 34 of those overseas. Two of the new jobs would be civil service, and one domestic Foreign Service.
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs: Thirty-six new positions in this shop would be realized if the request for $10.7 million in new funds are met. Fourteen domestic and 22 new overseas jobs would go primarily to Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador.
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs: NEA is requesting $9 million for 30 new positions, 22 of them overseas, which will allow staff expansions in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Cairo, Algiers, Amman, Dhahran (Saudi Arabia), and Jerusalem. "Program positions will support expanded engagement in Libya, monitoring economic activities in UAE and cultivating and expanding bilateral relationships with Saudi Arabia."
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs: The administration is requesting $8 million in new funding for 27 new jobs at EAP, 23 of those overseas. "Resources requested will also support outreach to new audiences and dialogues that advance U.S. interests," the State Department said. Interesting…
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs: SCA is requesting $7 million for 25 new jobs, not counting Afghanistan and Pakistan. The 19 overseas positions will be to expand the bureau’s presence in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs: The request for PM was $38.2 billion, a 6 percent increase over last year, and PM’s staff would increase by 17 positions if the budget request was enacted as is. PM is also going to play a key role in State’s takeover of the Pakistani Counterinsurgency Capability Fund, a major $1.2 billion operation. More on that later.
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor: The administration is requesting $1.6 million toward 19 new positions in this bureau, most of which will be to vet foreign assistance programs to make sure money won’t go to human rights violators, as mandated by law under what’s known as the Leahy amendment.
Losers:
Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs: The president requested $2.3 million for seven new jobs in the European affairs bureau, toward the goal of promotion of a "peaceful, united and democratic Europe," as well as, "increased engagement in the Balkans and Turkey."
Bureau of Intelligence and Research: $1 million of new funding requested for seven new positions at INR, to focus on counterterrorism, cyber security, and information protection.
Bureau of Administration: Only six new jobs for this bureau, but lots of new money requested to purchase expanded office space, perform a major renovation of the Blair House, and purchase property being abandoned by the Army at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Bureau of Legislative Affairs: Only three new jobs proposed for this bureau at a cost of $185,000, a key function in the administration’s defense of its budget request on Capitol Hill.
Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs: Only two new jobs worth $181,000 for the EB bureau, to help it out with cybersecurity and investment policy.
Notable:
Office of the Secretary: The president requested $630,000 for nine new hires in the secretary’s personal office, six which are designated to the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism.
Human Resources: Six new jobs for the Bureau of Human Resources but 99 new jobs for the Human Resources Initiative.
Foreign Service Institute: $1.4 billion plus six new positions for FSI, which will expand language training in critical needs languages including Dari, Pashto, Urdu, Russian, and Chinese. FSI will also have an increased role in Civilian Response Corps training and will expand its distance-learning options.
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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