Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs FY2018 Budget Request: In Brief

Summary

The 115th Congress is considering FY2018 funding levels for the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS). President Donald J. Trump submitted his FY2018 budget request to Congress on May 23, 2017. The request seeks $40.25 billion (-30% compared with FY2017 enacted) for SFOPS, including Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funds. Of this total, $13.20 billion (-27% compared with FY2017 enacted) would be for the Department of State Operations and related programs. For Foreign Operations, the FY2018 request includes $27.05 billion (-31% compared with FY2017 enacted). The total OCO funds in the request amount to $12.02 billion (-42% below FY2017 enacted, including the FY2017 supplemental; excluding the supplemental, it would be -21%). OCO funds are important in the budget request since these funds do not count against the discretionary spending limits imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-25).

Prominent issues in the SFOPS request include, among others, a reduction in annual appropriations for diplomatic security, contributions to international organizations and international peacekeeping, and educational and cultural exchange programs; a proposal to consolidate several bilateral foreign aid programs into one new account called the Economic Support and Development Fund (ESDF); proposed elimination of some foreign operations entities, such as the Trade and Development Agency and the Inter-American Foundation; and a 44% reduction in humanitarian assistance, including a zeroing out of the P.L. 480 (Food for Peace) foreign food aid program.

The FY2018 appropriations for Defense (DOD) could affect SFOPS funding in FY2018 because of the discretionary spending limits set by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-25). For FY2018, the caps are set at $549 billion for defense and $516 billion for nondefense (including SFOPS). Congress may seek to avert sequestration by amending or repealing the BCA, or passing a bipartisan budget agreement to raise OCO-designated funding for both DOD and SFOPS, as it did in FY2015. (For more detail on defense FY2018 budget issues, see CRS Report R44866, FY2018 Defense Budget Request: The Basics.)

This report will be updated as congressional action on the foreign affairs budget occurs.