*This article originally appeared on DevEx

U.S. President Joe Biden has proposed an increase for U.S. foreign assistance programs in the next fiscal year. While the White House’s $5.8 trillion budget request, released Monday, includes noteworthy proposals on climate finance and multilateral health initiatives, some advocates said it should be the “floor” for budget negotiations this year, and others said “it doesn’t meet the moment.”

Biden requested $60.4 billion for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. That is $1.9 billion more than the White House requested last year, and would be an increase of $7.4 billion over what was enacted in fiscal 2021, the final year of former President Donald Trump’s administration. Roughly half of the requested total — $29.4 billion — would be administered by USAID.

Devex has previously reported on concerns that the response to Russia’s war on Ukraine could see donor governments, including the United States, divert resources from humanitarian, development, and global health funding to military spending. The entire proposed budget for the State Department and USAID is less than Biden’s requested increase for the Department of Defense, which is $69 billion over 2021 spending levels.

This moment requires a global health budget with ambition and vision, and unfortunately this proposal comes up short.

Elisha Dunn-Georgiou, president and CEO, Global Health Council

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