What percentage of the US budget goes to foreign aid under the Biden administration in 2024?
Executive summary
The U.S. spent roughly $70–78 billion a year on foreign aid-sized programs around FY2023–FY2024, which amounted to about 1–1.5% of total federal outlays and about 4% of discretionary spending for international affairs in 2024 (figures and context from Pew, CRS/Library of Congress, and the Peterson Foundation) [1] [2] [3]. Available sources do not give a single line saying “X% of the 2024 budget went to foreign aid under Biden,” but the best contemporaneous measures place foreign assistance at roughly 1–1.5% of overall federal spending and about 4% of discretionary spending on international affairs for FY2024 [1] [3] [2].
1. What people mean by “foreign aid” — and why the share varies
“Foreign aid” is measured in several different ways: development and humanitarian assistance administered by State and USAID (the SFOPS accounts), broader foreign assistance including security/military aid, and supplemental emergency packages (e.g., Ukraine/Israel/Taiwan) that add large sums. CRS and State budget materials show the Biden administration’s FY2024 SFOPS request and appropriations activity in the $63–70 billion range for State/Foreign Operations accounts [4] [5]. How you count supplementary emergency spending, Foreign Military Sales, or commercial arms sales changes the percentage picture dramatically [4] [1].
2. The headline numbers available in reporting
Pew tallied $71.9 billion in U.S. foreign aid disbursements in fiscal 2023 and calculated that amount as 1.2% of total federal outlays of about $6.1 trillion that year — a useful benchmark for how small aid is compared with the overall budget [1]. The Peterson Foundation and State Department materials report that international affairs/discretionary international spending was about $78 billion — approximately 4% of discretionary programs in 2024 [3]. CRS analysis likewise frames SFOPS-level funding requests near $69.7 billion for FY2024 [4].
3. How emergency supplements changed the 2024 picture
In 2024 Congress passed large supplemental and emergency packages: a $95.3 billion emergency measure for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan and other add-ons that raised foreign-related outlays beyond base SFOPS levels [6]. CRS and donor-tracker reporting note that Congress also enacted supplemental appropriations focused on Ukraine/Israel/Indo-Pacific in 2024, making any single “share of the budget” dependent on whether you include those supplements [7] [6] [5].
4. Two ways journalists and analysts express the share
Analysts commonly report: (A) foreign aid as a percent of total federal outlays (Pew: ~1.2% in FY2023 using $71.9B) and (B) international-affairs discretionary spending as a share of discretionary budgets (Peterson Foundation: ~4% of discretionary programs in 2024 at $78B) [1] [3]. Both are defensible; they answer different policy questions. The lower number shows aid’s small footprint in the whole budget; the higher shows its weight inside discretionary foreign affairs spending [1] [3].
5. What the Biden administration requested vs. what Congress enacted
The Biden FY2024 budget request included roughly $69.7 billion for SFOPS accounts; congressional action ultimately involved continuing resolutions, a minibus and later supplemental packages passed in March–April 2024 [4] [7]. DonorTracker and CRS note that FY2024 appropriations were delayed, and supplemental bills and emergency spending (e.g., $95.3B) altered final totals beyond the base request [5] [6].
6. Where disagreement or confusion comes from — and what’s not in the sources
Confusion arises because “foreign aid” can mean only development/humanitarian assistance, or it can include military assistance, Foreign Military Sales facilitation, and emergency supplements — all reported by different agencies and tracked on ForeignAssistance.gov [8] [1]. Available sources do not provide a single definitive percentage labeled “percentage of the US budget that went to foreign aid under the Biden administration in 2024” in one line; instead they give disbursement totals and contextual percentages [1] [3] [4].
7. Bottom line for readers who want a concise answer
If you count foreign assistance disbursements like Pew did ($71.9B in FY2023 and similar FY2024 SFOPS-level funding), foreign aid was about 1–1.5% of total federal outlays and constituted roughly 4% of discretionary spending devoted to international affairs in 2024 [1] [3]. If you include large 2024 emergency supplements (Ukraine/Israel/Taiwan and other security assistance), total foreign-related outlays rise significantly, and any single “percentage of the budget” depends on those counting choices [6] [5].
Limitations: This summary relies on public fiscal-year tallies, budget requests and appropriations reporting in the supplied sources; precise percentages shift depending on whether one includes emergency/supplemental spending, military sales, and which baseline (total outlays vs. discretionary programs) you use [4] [1] [3].