The President proposes foreign aid funding, but Congress decides what to appropriate in law. Agencies develop proposals, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reviews them, and Congress can change totals or direct money toward particular accounts, countries, or purposes. After enactment, additional allocation and spending controls determine how the budget authority is used. A request, an appropriation, an allocation, and an obligation are different stages—not interchangeable measures of aid.
Who decides how much foreign aid the United States provides?
There is no single decision-maker or single moment when a proposed aid figure becomes funding. Executive agencies develop priorities and budget requests; the President submits the administration’s proposal; Congress considers and changes it; and enacted law supplies budget authority. Agencies then distribute and obligate funds within the limits of that law and related oversight requirements.
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The Congressional Research Service’s (CRS) April 23, 2020 guide describes the traditional State Department and USAID workflow. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported on September 30, 2026, that a 2025 executive order ended USAID operations and the State Department took over USAID’s remaining programs. Those agency changes affect who manages programs, but do not by themselves replace the stages through which Congress appropriates funds.
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| Stage | Who acts | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Agency planning | Operating units and agency budget offices | Units identify priorities, activities, staffing, and funding needs. |
| Executive review | Agencies, State’s Office of Foreign Assistance Resources, and OMB | Proposals are negotiated and aligned with administration priorities and available resources. |
| Presidential request | The President and executive branch | The President submits a proposed budget to Congress; State’s Congressional Budget Justification explains requested needs and activities. |
| Congressional consideration | House and Senate committees and chambers | Congress considers proposals, can revise amounts or directions, and develops appropriations legislation. |
| Enactment and allocation | Congress and executive agencies | Appropriations become law; statutory provisions and explanatory materials can shape account, country, or program allocations. |
| Execution and oversight | OMB and agencies | Funds are apportioned, allotted, allocated, and eventually obligated under legal and administrative controls. |
1. Agencies identify needs
In the process CRS described in 2020, operating units—including headquarters bureaus, missions, and embassies—identify strategic priorities and the staff and funds needed to carry them out. Parent agencies assemble these proposals. The traditional workflow involved State Department and USAID budget offices, though the agency arrangement should not be assumed to describe current USAID operations after the changes GAO reported in 2026.
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2. OMB and agencies negotiate the request
OMB reviews agency proposals and coordinates a government-wide budget request reflecting the President’s priorities. CRS’s 2020 guide describes this as an 18-month negotiation among operating units, budget offices, State’s Office of Foreign Assistance Resources, and OMB. In a step called “passback,” OMB sends agencies revised funding levels. The guide says operating-unit planning begins about two years before the fiscal year and that the President’s Budget and State’s Congressional Budget Justification are presented early in February. These are descriptions of the process in that 2020 guide, not a guarantee that every current calendar or office arrangement is unchanged.
3. The President submits a proposal
The President’s Budget proposes funding; it does not appropriate money. State’s Congressional Budget Justification (CBJ) explains requested funding needs and proposed activities. The request is one point of comparison—not proof that the requested amount was enacted or spent.
4. Congress considers and may change it
Congress considers appropriations legislation and related materials. CRS identifies the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the House Foreign Affairs Committee as participants in foreign assistance allocation decisions. Congress can change overall totals, specify amounts for accounts, or direct funding toward particular countries or purposes.
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5. Enactment sets legal limits and directions
Congressional decisions take effect through enacted law. The structure and terminology of annual measures can change. In the FY2020 example in its 2020 guide, CRS describes Titles III and IV as setting account appropriations and Title VII general provisions as containing some country directives. Conference reports or joint explanatory statements may also include allocation tables. Those details are an example, not a template for every year; the current law and its accompanying tables govern a particular fiscal year.
Under Section 653(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act, State and USAID budget offices produce a report aligning allocations with congressional directions, then allocate remaining funds as agencies determine. The provision helps connect enacted directions to account and program allocations; it does not make a presidential request equivalent to an appropriation.
6. Agencies execute funds under controls
After enactment, OMB apportions funds, authorizing them to be obligated according to a timetable. Department budget offices manage allotments and sub-allotments. Transfers between accounts and reprogramming within an account are subject to applicable law and notification requirements. An appropriation is budget authority; it should not be treated as cash already spent.
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What is the difference between a request, an appropriation, an allocation, and an obligation?
- Request: Funding the President proposes to Congress. Congress may accept, change, or reject the proposal.
- Appropriation: Budget authority Congress provides through law. It establishes the legal funding authority, not the amount already spent.
- Allocation: A distribution of available funding among accounts, countries, programs, or purposes, shaped by statutory directions and administrative decisions.
- Apportionment and allotment: Administrative steps that make budget authority available to agencies and units under limits and schedules.
- Obligation: A commitment of funds for a specific purpose, made subject to the governing appropriation and execution controls.
These stages answer different questions. A request describes the administration’s proposal; an enacted appropriation describes Congress’s legal budget authority; an allocation shows how funding is distributed; and an obligation indicates a commitment to spend. Comparing one stage with another can make a funding change look larger or smaller than it is.
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CRS reported that the FY2026 National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs (NSRP) measure provided $50.07 billion in enacted appropriations, net of rescissions. CRS said this was 3.5% below FY2025 enacted SFOPS funding. These are FY2026 figures for the NSRP measure and CRS’s comparison with FY2025; they are not a stable annual total or a measure of all U.S. foreign assistance across every federal agency.
The naming changed: comparable annual measures from FY2008 through FY2025 used the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) name, while the FY2026 measure used NSRP. Congress enacted FY2026 NSRP in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, P.L. 119-75, with Division F covering NSRP. The Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY2026 joint explanatory statement provides account-level enacted tables.
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A separate CRS report published October 16, 2024, reported a $64.03 billion administration request in new budget authority for FY2025 SFOPS accounts. That was a request, not the enacted FY2025 amount. CRS also described different House and Senate proposals and a continuing resolution that initially continued FY2024 funding into FY2025. The figures illustrate why a valid comparison must distinguish a request, legislative proposals, enacted funding, and continuing appropriations.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why “foreign aid” totals can differ
“Foreign aid” is broader than a single appropriations title or agency. CRS’s FY2025 report explains that the SFOPS accounts and the International Affairs budget (Function 150) align closely but not exactly. For example, international food aid funded through the Department of Agriculture is part of the broader picture, while some SFOPS funding falls outside Function 150. The FY2026 NSRP total therefore should not be presented as the total of all U.S. international assistance.
Rescissions and emergency-designated funds also affect comparisons. A figure described as net of rescissions is not directly interchangeable with a gross amount, and a request for new budget authority is not the same measure as enacted appropriations. Always identify the fiscal year, legislative stage, account scope, and whether rescissions or emergency funds are included.
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How to compare two foreign aid funding figures
- Match the fiscal year. Do not compare different years as if they described the same budget cycle.
- Match the legislative stage. Label each number as a presidential request, committee or chamber proposal, enacted appropriation, allocation, or obligation.
- Check the scope. Confirm whether the figure covers SFOPS, FY2026 NSRP, Function 150, or a broader set of federal assistance programs.
- Check the accounting treatment. Note whether the figure is gross or net of rescissions and whether emergency-designated funding is included.
- Consult the enacted law and tables for final account details. Requests and proposals are useful context, but enacted law and its accompanying materials establish the operative appropriations and directions.
What changed in the agency landscape
CRS’s 2020 process guide describes USAID as participating in budget coordination and fund administration. GAO’s report, published September 30, 2026, states that a 2025 executive order ended USAID operations and that the State Department took over the agency’s remaining programs. GAO also found that State lacked documented guidance to ensure its foreign assistance decisions were consistent and effective. That finding concerns management and decision guidance; it does not alter the basic distinction between presidential proposals, congressional appropriations, and post-enactment execution.
For a current account-level question, use the applicable fiscal-year appropriations law and explanatory tables. For program implementation or agency-management decisions, GAO’s dated findings are relevant, but later actions may affect the status described in that report.
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