Despite strong pressure to reduce the yawning federal deficit, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is asking Congress for a slight increase in funding for the State Department and foreign aid next year.
The administration is requesting a total of some $56 billion in “international affairs” spending for fiscal year (FY) 2013, which begins Oct. 1, according to the budget proposal presented by the administration Monday.
That total is 2% more — or about $1.3 billion — than Congress approved in a 2012 omnibus appropriations bill, but still 4% less than the FY 2010 international affairs budget, the last year in which Democrats held a majority in both houses of Congress.
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