USAID Foreign Assistance

The primary objective of the site is to fulfill the requirements set forth in the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016 (FATAA) through the collection, tracking, and publication of the full lifecycle of all USG foreign assistance data."
From Internet Archive

Methodology:
ForeignAssistance.gov captures both budgetary and financial information related to U.S. foreign assistance. These two types of data capture foreign assistance at different points in the financial lifecycle.

Budgetary Data

Budgetary data represents funds that are set aside to be spent by the U.S. government and its implementing partners in the future. Budgetary data is composed of request data – funds requested by U.S. government agencies – and appropriation data – funds appropriated by Congress to U.S. government agencies through spending bills signed into law. This data is reported on an annual basis for the fiscal year for which the funds were requested or appropriated.

1. President's Budget Requests – The agencies prepare a funding request from Congress. The request data visualized on ForeignAssistance.gov comes from each agency's budget request. Each U.S. government agency prepares a budget request to Congress, which is compiled into the President's Budget submission to both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. This submission provides a comprehensive outline of all programs and the associated funds the President proposes to execute in the upcoming fiscal year, and as such is not an authority to spend funds. This is also known as the Congressional Budget Justification (CBJ).
2. Appropriations – Congress appropriates funds to U.S. government agencies in a series of appropriations acts or spending bills, which are then signed into law by the President. These laws provide funds to the agencies, which are subdivided into specific amounts to be spent on set categories or activities over a specified amount of time. In many instances, funds appropriated in a given fiscal year do not need to be obligated in that same fiscal year. The data visualized on ForeignAssistance.gov originally comes from the appropriation passed by Congress and is refreshed with final amounts for the agencies once this data is available.

Financial Data

Financial data includes both obligated data – funds the U.S. government commits to an acquisition or award mechanism – and disbursed data – funds the U.S. government moves to implementing partners for the purchase of goods and services. U.S. government agencies report financial transaction data from their accounting and project management systems on a quarterly basis, if possible. The fiscal years associated with obligated and disbursed transaction data represent the years in which those transactions took place. Transaction data is more granular than activity data. Transaction data represent individual financial records in an agency's accounting system of record for program work with implementing partners and administrative expenses.

What is Foreign Aid?
Foreign assistance is provided by the United States to other countries to support global peace, security, and development efforts, as well as to provide humanitarian relief during times of crisis. The U.S. government provides foreign assistance because it is strategically, economically, and morally imperative for the United States and vital to U.S. national security.For purposes of this website, foreign assistance includes activities funded from appropriations accounts that are made available for assistance for foreign countries, international organizations, and other foreign entities, which may include, but is not limited to, funds, goods, services, and technical assistance. While a significant amount of foreign assistance is authorized primarily under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA), U.S. government foreign assistance is also authorized by other legislation. Similarly, U.S. government foreign assistance is generally funded by appropriations within budget function 150, International Affairs, in annual presentations of the Budget of the U.S. Government. ForeignAssistance.gov reports U.S. foreign assistance included above. For illustrative purposes, U.S. foreign assistance is further delineated at multiple levels of categorization: at the broadest level as economic or military; as well as by multiple more specific assistance categories that are standardized within USAID and Department of State foreign assistance planning and implementation and by which the other federal agencies have categorized their funding when reporting data for publication on this website.The International Community, represented through the Organization for Economic Co–operation and Development (OECD), tracks some forms of foreign assistance through the lens of Official Development Assistance (ODA). The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD defines ODA as resource flows that are concessional in nature and "provided by official agencies, including state and local governments, or by their executive agencies..." and "administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its main objective".The website also provides categorization of U.S. foreign assistance by the standardized categorization applied internationally, as established by the OECD DAC – this different taxonomy displays the same dataset, all sourced from systems of record but only includes funds which meet the definition of ODA.In addition to fulfilling U.S. government reporting requirements, ForeignAssistance.gov helps the U.S. government respond to stakeholder and public inquiries regarding U.S. foreign assistance. All budgetary and financial data categorized as foreign assistance are reported on ForeignAssistance.gov.

How is Foreign Assistance Captured?

1. Obligations – A definite commitment that creates a legal liability of the government for the payment of goods and services ordered or received, or a legal duty on the part of the United States that could mature into a legal liability by virtue of actions on the part of the other party beyond the control of the United States. Payment may be made immediately or in the future. An agency incurs an obligation, for example, when it places an order, signs a contract, awards a grant, purchases a service, or takes other actions that require the government to make payments to the public or from one government account to another. The standards for the proper reporting of obligations are found in section 1501(a) of title 31 of the United States Code. See also OMB Circular No. A–11.
2. Disbursements – Disbursements are the funds paid/outlaid by U.S. government agencies, by cash or cash equivalent, during the fiscal year to liquidate government obligations.

How is ForeignAssistance.gov Data Produced?

Data Collection

The Foreign Assistance Data and Reporting Team's (FA–DART) data collection effort is authorized by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which leads an Interagency Policy Committee (IPC) on Aid Transparency, and issues OMB Bulletin 12–01, Guidance on Collection of U.S. Foreign Assistance Data and the Foreign Assistance Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016 (FATAA). All U.S. government departments and agencies that fund or implement foreign assistance activities are subject to OMB's reporting requirements and guidance.The Foreign Assistance Data and Reporting Team from the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (FA–DART) collects financial information on U.S. foreign assistance in the form of activities and their associated financial flows. An assistance "activity" can be a project, program, cash transfer, delivery of goods, training course, technical assistance, research project, debt relief operation, or a contribution to an international organization. An assistance "financial flow" most commonly takes the form of an obligation (a binding agreement, based on budgeted resources, which will result in outlays) or a disbursement (an amount paid, or outlaid, by federal agencies, by cash or cash equivalent, to settle government obligations).FA–DART also collects budget planning data at different points in the federal budget cycle. Agencies report request data once they have completed their annual Congressional Budget Justifications to Congress. They provide appropriation data once they have received their annual appropriation from Congress and, if applicable, report those funds by categories and countries.

Data Redaction

As outlined in OMB Bulletin 12–01, a core principle of U.S. foreign assistance transparency policy is a "presumption in favor of openness." However, as outlined in Section 4 of the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016 (FATAA) reporting agencies can limit the disclosure of data if such information jeopardizes the priorities or interests of the U.S. government or the health and safety of its implementing partners. The reporting agencies submit data that has already been reviewed and redacted to protect against potential harm.

Data Processing

The data are reported to FA–DART by all U.S. government Agencies, Departments and Offices that receive foreign assistance funds or undertake foreign assistance activities.The data housed on the ForeignAssistance.gov comes from over 20 different U.S. government Agencies, Departments and Offices, in various formats and reports. In order to fulfill all Congressional and International reporting requirements, the data must be converted and stored in a common format. The team standardizes various types of information, from disparate internal financial and project management systems, including: country or region, agency (both funder and implementer), funding account (appropriation), sub–agency or office, sector, and implementing partner. The team then converts each of these entities to a set of common IDs and names, and stores them in a data warehouse.

Data Verification

While processing the data received from U.S. government agency submitters, the team checks:

• The reported financial flows (obligations and disbursements) against the agencies' foreign assistance amounts from previous years.
• The figures to ensure there are no duplicates within submissions and that no records are missing required values.
• Figures against the federal budget and Monthly Treasury Statements (a Treasury report of all monthly receipts/outlays and deficit/surplus of the United States).
• Transactions to ensure consistent reporting where alternative sources of obligation and disbursement amounts are available.
• The reporting of U.S. foreign assistance across agencies to confirm no double-counting of funds transferred from one agency to another.

Note: All data are verified by the agencies prior to publication.

Data Reporting Schedule

The team receives both quarterly and annually data depending on the submitter agency. The team processes data as it is received and uploads it quarterly to the website. In order to meet international commitments and continually improve upon the data, processing for a given fiscal year concludes at the end of the next fiscal year. For example, the final FY2016 data processing concluded at the end of FY2017. To see if a particular agency or office is reported for a given year, check the Reporting Status table.

Historical (Pre–2001) Data

Prior to 2001, the U.S. foreign assistance data reported to USAID by U.S. government agencies did not contain detailed, activity–level information, nor did it contain disbursements.

Data Revisions

The timeliness of reporting varies by agency and program. For example, food aid and military assistance historically have significant lag in reporting and, therefore, are often subject to revision. As with most time series datasets, historical revisions are necessary to improve the accuracy and consistency. Finally, when a methodology change occurs, the new methodology is applied to historical data if possible.

What is the Budget process for US government funds?
The notional process outlined here represents FA-DART's budget process.

Budget Formulation

Budget requests are initially formulated by each agency on an annual basis for the upcoming year for which the Congress needs to make appropriations. For informational and contextual purposes to highlight trends or changes over time, budget requests can include data for the previous fiscal year, the current year, and at least one year forward (out years) to reflect the effect of the budget decisions over the longer term. The budget may also include proposed changes to appropriations for the current year.Budget requests are usually initiated two years prior to the start of a fiscal year (FY); for example, in February 2010 the field prepared the FY 2012 request. The U.S. government's fiscal year begins on October 1 of the previous calendar year and ends on September 30 of the year with which it is numbered. For example, FY 2021 begins on October 1, 2020 and concludes on September 30, 2021.Agency budgets are then compiled and analyzed and the complete agency request is developed and submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in mid–September. Budget processes may vary by agency.

OMB Budget Review

From mid–September to late November, OMB analyzes each agency submission within the context of the overall federal budget, alignment with the national security strategy and other administration priorities. OMB staff may conduct hearings on specific issues, countries, sectors, or initiatives as part of its analysis.After this detailed review, OMB sends a "Passback" to each agency describing certain assumptions and recommending what level of funding agencies can request from Congress. After budget settlement, the "President's Mark" is set, determining each agency's request to Congress.

Congressional Budget Justification

The President submits the overall budget request to Congress on the first Monday of February although this date may change under certain circumstances, such as the start of a new administration. Each agency produces a more detailed justification called the Congressional Budget Justification (CBJ) to accompany the President's Budget which includes materials they need to explain their budget requests to the responsible congressional subcommittees. OMB reviews the CBJs upon receipt.

Congressional Budget Resolutions

After the President's Budget is submitted to Congress, agency principals appear before Congressional committees, where they explain and defend the budget request.During the Congressional hearing process, Congress prepares a Congressional Budget Resolution, which outlines a budget plan for at least five years and sets limits for annual discretionary spending. The budget resolutions are non–binding, fiscal blueprints that guide the Appropriations Committees as they undertake their work.

Congressional Appropriations

Congress must pass appropriations bills each year to fund the federal government for the next fiscal year. The U.S. government is funded through 12 separate appropriations measures, one from each of the 12 House and Senate appropriations subcommittees:

• Agriculture
• Commerce – Justice – Science
• Defense
• Energy and Water
• Financial Services
• Homeland Security
• Interior and Environment
• Labor – Health and Human Services – Education
• Legislative Branch
• Military Construction - Veterans
• State – Foreign Operations
• Transportation - Housing and Urban Development

The House and Senate each pass its own version of an appropriation. To complete the appropriation process, the two houses must reach agreement on a single version of the appropriation and the President must sign the bill. Congress strives to pass each of the 12 appropriations bills individually by the end of the fiscal year on September 30. However, historically, Congress has rarely enacted all appropriations on time, and oftentimes two or more individual appropriations are rolled together to create an Omnibus Appropriation.If the House and Senate fail to reach agreement on one or more of the 12 appropriations bills by the beginning of the fiscal year, Congress passes Continuing Resolutions (CRs) to fund the agencies whose measures have not been enacted. CRs are stop–gap funding laws that permit continued spending, usually at prior–year levels, until regular appropriations bills are enacted.

Agency Implementation

Once Congress appropriates the funds that an agency may use according to a time period, program, project, or activity, agencies begin to take actions to implement their programs, projects, or activities.Agencies implement programs in partnership with organizations through primarily one of five award/acquisition types, listed below; however, this is not an exhaustive list of award/acquisition types.

1. Contracts (Acquisition): Direct purchase of goods or services by the federal government.
2. Grants (Assistance): Transfer of funds to another party for the implementation of programs that contribute to the public good and further the objectives of the Foreign Assistance Act. A grant is distinguished from a contract, which is used to acquire property or services for the federal government's direct benefit or use.
3. Cooperative Agreement (Assistance): Similar to a grant, but with substantial involvement from the agency. A cooperative agreement is distinguished from a grant in that it provides for substantial involvement between the federal agency and the recipient in carrying out the activity contemplated by the award.
4. Agreements with Public International Organizations (PIOs): Agencies provide funding to PIOs under various types of arrangements. The single term "agreement" is considered to include cost–type agreements, project contributions, general contributions, fixed amount agreements, simplified agreements, and other types of implementing mechanisms through which funding is provided to PIOs.
5. Interagency Agreements: An agreement between two Federal agencies by which one agency buys goods or services from the other, including but not limited to an agreement under the authority of FAA section 632(b), the Economy Act, the Government Management Reform Act or similar legislation, or by which one agency transfers or allocates funds to another under the authority of FAA section 632(a).

The type of award depends on the type of work, purpose of the funding, and nature of the relationship between the agency and the implementing partner. More in–depth information about each award type may be found in OMB Circulars.

More Information

For more information about the federal budget process please see the following website: Introduction to the Federal Budget Process: Congressional Research Service, February 2020