With just hours to spare before a midnight deadline, Congress approved a short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) to extend government funding until after November’s midterm elections.

The CR extends FY22 funding levels for federal departments and agencies through December 16 – punting negotiations on final FY23 spending bills to the lame duck session of Congress. The House approved six of its twelve FY23 spending bills in July, including the State-Foreign Operations bill that funds the vast majority of the International Affairs Budget. The Senate Appropriations Committee released its full slate of FY23 spending bills in August but has not taken any additional action.

In addition to the funding extension, the package approved by Congress also provided a total of $12.3 billion in FY23 emergency supplemental resources to support Ukraine. This includes $4.5 billion for the International Affairs Budget, matching the Administration’s request. Provided through the Economic Support Fund (ESF), these resources, will be used for “additional budget support to maintain the operations of Ukraine’s national government, including to enable the government to maintain macroeconomic stability and provide basic citizen services, which are necessary for Ukraine’s effort to repel Russia’s invasion.”

However, the package does not include $4.6 billion in emergency supplemental funding requested by the Administration to combat the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and address the global outbreak of moneypox. The USGLC has been a leading voice on the need for additional resources for the global response to COVID-19 to save lives and get shots in arms around the world to prevent new variants from reaching our shores.

As bipartisan negotiations on final FY23 spending bills continue, the USGLC urges Congress to provide no less than the House proposal of $66.6 billion for the regular International Affairs Budget – as well as additional emergency resources proposed by the Senate – to ensure our investments in development and diplomacy meet the urgent needs affecting America’s security and economic interests.