House subcommittee approves FY13 U.S. international affairs spending bill without amendment

The House Appropriations State and Foreign Operations subcommittee on Wednesday approved, without changes, its version of the FY 2013 U.S. international affairs appropriations bill, Devex reports (Mungcal, 5/10). The bill provides $40.1 billion in regular discretionary funding and an additional $8.2 billion in funding for ongoing efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan, and if enacted would represent a 12 percent cut from the President's request and a five percent cut from 2012, according to a House Committee on Appropriations press release (5/8). "Despite the cuts, the legislation won bipartisan backing from the Appropriations foreign aid panel, though it's sure to draw a White House veto threat because it's in line with a broader GOP spending plan that breaks faith with last summer's budget and debt pact with President Barack Obama," the Associated Press/Washington Post writes (5/9). "The bill now goes to the full House Appropriations Committee, which is expected to vote on it next week," Devex notes (5/10).

Additional details regarding the international health aspects of the FY13 appropriations bill proposal are available on the Kaiser Family Foundation's Policy Tracker.