The Senate will vote no later than tomorrow on another Continuing Resolution (CR), which will fund the federal government until March 4. Late last week, an omnibus package proposed by Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) was pulled from the floor due to Republican opposition over higher spending levels and earmarks. Congress passed a three-day extension of the current spending stopgap measure in order for lawmakers to work out a longer term CR. Under the new CR, the International Affairs Budget will be funded at a level of about $52.9 billion, 10% below the President’s request.

Must-Reads

Who’s in the News

Be the Change:  Rajiv Shah (Christiane Amanpour, ABC’s This Week)

On Sunday, USAID Administrator Shah was interviewed by Christiane Amanpour on ABC’s This Week, discussing the Feed the Future Initiative and in particular childhood nutrition.  Shah told her that poverty and malnourishment of children is a “solvable problem” and focused on USAID’s efforts to purchase high quality food assistance from local farmers and private companies in order to build local economies and help countries “pull themselves out of poverty.”

Ritu Sharma (NewsNation, MSNBC)

Women Thrive Worldwide Co-Founder and President, Ritu Sharma, talks about the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA).

Smart Power

White House Launches Foreign Aid Dashboard (Elizabeth Montalbano,  InformationWeek)

The White House has launched another online dashboard to provide more transparency on how the government spends its money, this time in overseas investments.The Foreign Assistance Dashboard, launched by the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, is aimed at making it easier for policymakers as well as the public to understand U.S. investments abroad. Modeled on similar federal spending dashboards such as USAspending.gov and the federal IT Dashboard, the site allows people to where U.S. foreign aid is dispersed around the globe, as well as gives them data-analysis tools to help them understand how the funds are appropriated.

Where is US Foreign Aid Going? (Mark Leon Goldberg, UN Dispatch)

Most Americans believe the United States gives much more in foreign aid than it actually does.  In reality, the United States spends around $37 billion on foreign aid, which is roughly 1% of the federal budget. That’s from the brand new ForeignAssistance.Gov, which you could spend hours perusing. The site offers easily accessible information about how that $37 billion is spent.  You can break it down by sector, recipient country, and program area.

Politics/Foreign Policy

Foreign Aid Funding Under Scrutiny (Sarah C. Sullivan, PBS NewsHour)

As control of the House shifts to Republicans, lawmakers are vowing to find ways to cut deficits — and some are pointing to foreign aid as an area to trim. The funding debate was revived this week when the State Department released its first-ever Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, or QDDR — a plan to advance the U.S. foreign policy mission abroad.

Comeback Against Malaria (New York Times)

According to the World Malaria Report for 2010, the number of deaths from malaria declined by 21 percent over the past nine years — from 985,000 in 2000 to 781,000 in 2009, with the vast majority of victims children under the age of 5. Meanwhile, the number of malaria cases only dropped from 233 million to 225 million. Those gains may look better when final figures for 2010 become available.

Clinton worried by talk of cutting US foreign aid (AP)

In a speech Friday at the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Clinton said that aid officials must reduce reliance on contractors and better coordinate their work to keep congressional support for foreign aid programs. The Obama administration has requested $36.4 billion in foreign assistance in fiscal 2011.

Iran ‘No. 1’ on agenda for Foreign Affairs panel leader (Bridget Johnson, The Hill)

A senior House Republican is putting Iran and its nuclear program at the top of her aggressive agenda in the next Congress. Taking the helm of the House Foreign Affairs Committee next month, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said Iran is “No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3” on the panel’s to-do list. Oversight will be stepped up, she said, while noting the limitations of legislation that passes her committee.