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Foreign Affairs Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO)
Funding: Background and Current Status
The 116th Congress may debate Overseas Contingency
addition to country-specific uses, Congress also
Operations (OCO) funding levels in the context of the
appropriated funds for the Global Security Contingency
FY2020 foreign affairs and defense budgets. A key feature
Fund.
of OCO funds is their effective exemption, like emergency
funds, from the discretionary spending limits established by
In the FY2013 full-year continuing appropriations (P.L.
the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112-25). Some
113-6, Div. F, Title VII, Sec. 1707-1708), Congress
Members have suggested that this exemption provides
specified only Jordan as an additional OCO-recipient
agencies with additional budget cushioning and flexibility,
country.
allowing defense and nondefense funding to exceed the
spending caps.
Figure 1. Nondefense Overseas Contingency
Operations, FY2012-FY2019
Within the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA, P.L. 115-
123), Congress raised the overall discretionary spending
limits set by the BCA. It increased FY2019 defense funding
levels by $85 billion and FY2019 nondefense funding
levels (including foreign affairs) by $68 billion. In response
to the raised caps, the Administration requested no foreign
affairs OCO funds for FY2019, instead proposing that all
funds fall within regular funding. The FY2019 enacted
omnibus appropriations law (Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2019, P.L. 116-6, Div. F) set foreign affairs OCO
funding at $8.0 billion.
While ongoing debate in Congress over OCO may focus on
defense spending (where the largest share of OCO funds are
appropriated), foreign affairs OCO funding may continue to
play a role in the international affairs budget.
Source: Department of State Congressional Budget Justifications,
FY2014, FY2015, FY2016, FY2017, FY2018, and FY2019, P.L. 115-
Background on Foreign Affairs OCO
141, and P.L. 116-6. The totals enacted include net rescissions.
The foreign affairs agencies began requesting OCO funding
in FY2012, distinguishing between what is referred to as
For FY2014 (P.L. 113-76, Title VIII), Congress provided
enduring (ongoing costs) versus extraordinary, temporary
four accounts with no-year (available until expended) OCO
costs of State and USAID in the frontline states of Iraq,
funds, but made most foreign affairs OCO funds available
Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Many view this approach as
for two years—or until September 30, 2015. Congress also
similar to the annual emergency supplemental
expanded the terms of transfer authority, providing greater
appropriations to support the Global War on Terrorism
flexibility among certain accounts. It also authorized
(GWOT) in the frontline states during the George W. Bush
transfers from those accounts to International Disaster
Administration.
Assistance (IDA) and Migration and Refugee Assistance
(MRA) accounts, subject to certain dollar amounts or
Congress, having provided OCO funds for the Department
percentages, and regular notification procedures. FY2014
of Defense (DOD) earlier, adopted this approach for foreign
OCO-funded activities were in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan,
affairs, although it never permanently defined its uses in
Jordan, Lebanon, the Central African Republic, and
statute. Since 2012, Congress has appropriated more
Somalia.
nondefense OCO funds than were requested each year and
authorized its use in additional countries (see Figure 1). In
For FY2015, although Congress did not provide specific
contrast, President Obama first sought OCO funds for a
OCO funds for countering the Islamic State (IS), as was
country other than the three frontline states in the FY2015
requested, it did provide an increase in OCO funds in many
request when he requested OCO funds for Syria.
accounts with language that allowed it to be used for
counterterrorism.
For the first foreign affairs OCO appropriation, Congress
provided FY2012 OCO funds (P.L. 112-74, Title VIII) for a
The Obama Administration requested an expanded use of
wide range of recipients beyond the three frontline states,
OCO funds for Syria and peacekeeping in FY2016 and
including Yemen, Somalia, Kenya, and the Philippines. In
FY2017. Congress also provided OCO funding in both
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years for Ebola, Zika, counterterrorism, and countering
Issues
Russian aggression.
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA)
The FY2018 foreign affairs OCO request included funds for
The appropriations process for FY2019 was shaped by the
famine relief and prevention, refugee assistance, and aid to
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA, P.L. 115-123), which
Africa and the Middle East. The initial FY2019 budget
Congress passed on February 9, 2018. The act raised the
request included $12 billion in OCO funds for costs in war
overall revised discretionary spending limits set by the
areas including Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. However,
Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112-25) from
upon passage of the 2018 BBA (P.L. 115-123), the
$1.069 trillion for FY2017 to $1.208 trillion for FY2018
President issued an addendum requesting that all funds
and to $1.244 trillion for FY2019. The BBA increased
previously designated as OCO be shifted to base funding.
FY2019 defense funding levels by $85 billion, from $562
billion to $647 billion, and nondefense funding (including
Within the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (Div. F,
SFOPS) by $68 billion, from $529 billion to $597 billion.
P.L. 116-6 ), Congress appropriated a total of $54.4 billion
The bill did not change discretionary spending limits for
for the State Department, Foreign Operations and Related
FY2020 and FY2021 but it extends direct spending
Programs (SFOPS): $46.4 billion for regular or base funds
reductions from FY2021 in the original BCA through
and $8.0 billion (nearly 15% of total SFOPS funds) for
FY2027, as amended.
OCO. The FY2019 act, as is normally the case for
appropriations measures, provided various time periods of
OCO and Spending Limit Implications
funding availability for both regular and OCO accounts. It
Through FY2027, as amended, the BCA imposes limits on
continued multiyear spending and broad transfer authorities
discretionary spending and provides for adjustments to
with regular notifications, making OCO use somewhat
those limits for funds designated as OCO or emergency
flexible. Table 1 below details enacted OCO funding levels
requirements. When the House and Senate draft the budget
by account and availability for FY2019 and beyond:
resolutions and the appropriations subcommittees consider
funding for DOD and foreign affairs, OCO can be used to
Table 1. FY2019 Foreign Affairs OCO Funding Levels
provide funds that are effectively not subject to those
($ mil ions)
spending limits, even if the funds have only a tangential
relationship to the war on terrorism. In the FY2015 budget
Total
8,000.0 process, for example, some questioned the Senate’s
increased use of OCO funds over the previous fiscal year,
Funds available until September 30, 2020
asserting it was done to free up discretionary funding for
other agency budgets and still meet the FY2015 limit of
Diplomatic Programs (DP)
3,226.0 $1.014 trillion.
Office of Inspector General (OIG)
54.9 Enactment of the BBA in 2015 resulted in reducing foreign
Contributions to International Organizations
96.2 affairs regular funding that year by 11% within the omnibus
(CIO)
appropriations and increasing foreign affairs OCO funds by
Contributions for International Peacekeeping
988.7 60%, perhaps helping to meet nondefense discretionary
budgetary caps without reducing the overall foreign affairs
USAID’s Operating Expenses (OE)
158.1 total.
Economic Support Fund (ESF)
1,172.3 Despite the BBA of 2018 raising spending limits and no
Peacekeeping Operations (PKO)
325.2 Administration request for foreign affairs OCO funds for
Foreign Military Financing (FMF)
229.4 FY2019, Congress appropriated $8.0 billion in foreign
affairs OCO in FY2019. It remains to be seen how a return
Funds available until expended
to discretionary spending limits in FY2020 will affect the
foreign affairs OCO appropriations level.
Worldwide Security Protection within DP
[2,626.1] More Information
Transition Initiatives (TI)
62.0 For more information on OCO and the foreign affairs
International Disaster Assistance (IDA)
584.3 budget, see CRS Report R44519, Overseas Contingency
Operations Funding: Background and Status, by Brendan
Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA)
1,404.1 W. McGarry and Susan B. Epstein, and CRS Report
Rescission
R45168, Department of State, Foreign Operations and
Related Programs: FY2019 Budget and Appropriations, by
Diplomatic and Consular Programs
(301.2) Susan B. Epstein, Marian L. Lawson, and Cory R. Gill
Source: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, P.L. 116-6 , Div. F,
Title VIII.
Susan B. Epstein, Specialist in Foreign Policy
Note: Numbers within brackets are subsumed in DP; numbers
Emily M. Morgenstern, Analyst in Foreign Assistance and
within parentheses are negative.
Foreign Policy
IF10143
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Foreign Affairs Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) Funding: Background and Current Status
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