Track US Foreign Aid & Defense Spending in Federal Budget Data

This guide shows you how to find and track U.S. foreign aid and defense spending using official federal budget documents and public databases. You’ll learn where the data lives, how to extract the numbers you need, and how to avoid common pitfalls when comparing year-over-year figures.

What You’ll Need

• A computer with internet access
• A spreadsheet program (Excel, Google Sheets, or similar) for organizing data
• Basic familiarity with reading tables and using filters
• Optional: a PDF reader that can search text (most browsers have this built in)

Step-by-Step

1. Identify the official sources. The primary sources for U.S. federal budget data are:
   • USAspending.gov – the official open data source for federal spending, including foreign aid and defense.
   • The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – publishes the annual Budget of the U.S. Government, including historical tables.
   • The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) – provides baseline projections and analyses.
   • The Department of Defense (DoD) – publishes its own budget request and justification documents.
   • The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) – for detailed foreign assistance data (Foreign Aid Explorer).
2. Start with USAspending.gov for current-year spending. Go to USAspending.gov. Use the “Explore” section and select “Spending”. You can filter by fiscal year, agency, and budget function. For defense, look for the budget function “050” (National Defense). For foreign aid, look for “150” (International Affairs) – this includes foreign assistance, diplomatic operations, and foreign information programs. You can also search by agency (e.g., Department of Defense, USAID, Department of State).
3. Download the underlying data. On USAspending.gov, after applying filters, look for a “Download” button to get the data as a CSV or Excel file. This gives you transaction-level detail, which you can pivot in a spreadsheet to sum up totals by year, country, or program.
4. Use the Budget of the U.S. Government for historical trends. Go to the OMB website (whitehouse.gov/omb) and find the “Historical Tables” section of the latest budget. Table 3.1 shows outlays by superfunction and function. Look for “National Defense” (function 050) and “International Affairs” (function 150). Download the Excel file for easy manipulation.
5. For foreign aid specifically, use USAID’s Foreign Aid Explorer. Visit foreignassistance.gov. This tool lets you filter by country, year, and sector. It covers economic and military assistance from all U.S. agencies. You can export the data to CSV.
6. For defense spending details, use the DoD budget request. Go to comptroller.defense.gov. Find the “Budget Materials” section. The “Program Acquisition Cost by Weapon System” and “Operation and Maintenance” documents break down spending by category. These are PDFs – use the search function (Ctrl+F) to find specific terms like “aircraft” or “shipbuilding”.
7. Check the CBO for long-term projections. CBO’s baseline projections (cbo.gov) show future spending under current law. Their annual report “The Budget and Economic Outlook” includes tables for defense and international affairs discretionary spending.
8. Compare apples to apples. When comparing across years, ensure you are using the same fiscal year (October 1 to September 30). Also note whether figures are in nominal dollars (not adjusted for inflation) or real dollars (inflation-adjusted). OMB historical tables provide both – look for “Current Dollars” vs. “Constant Dollars” (e.g., FY 2017 dollars).
9. Track changes over time. Create a spreadsheet with columns for fiscal year, budget function (050 or 150), agency, and amount. Use the downloaded CSV files to populate it. Then you can create charts to visualize trends.
10. Verify with multiple sources. Cross-check a number from USAspending with the OMB historical table for the same year. Discrepancies are common due to timing (obligations vs. outlays) and classification. For example, some foreign aid is classified under the Department of Defense budget (e.g., security assistance). Read the footnotes in the source documents.

Common Mistakes

• Confusing obligations with outlays. Obligations are commitments made in a year; outlays are actual cash disbursed. USAspending shows both. For budget tracking, outlays are usually what you want for comparing to budget totals.
• Using budget authority instead of outlays. Budget authority is the amount Congress allows an agency to commit. Outlays can lag by years. The OMB historical tables clearly label each.
• Mixing fiscal years. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. A budget document labeled “FY 2025” covers Oct 1, 2024 – Sep 30, 2025. If you compare calendar year data, you’ll be off.
• Ignoring inflation. A $600 billion defense budget in 2010 is not the same as $600 billion in 2024. Always check whether the source is in current or constant dollars.
• Looking only at the Department of Defense. Defense spending includes nuclear weapons programs in the Department of Energy (function 050 also includes atomic energy defense activities). Foreign aid includes not just USAID but also State Department, Treasury, and even Defense Department programs (like the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative).
• Using outdated data. USAspending updates daily, but budget documents are published once a year. Make sure you’re looking at the latest fiscal year’s data.

Tips

• Bookmark the key pages: USAspending.gov, foreignassistance.gov, comptroller.defense.gov, and the OMB historical tables page.
• Use the “Agency” filter on USAspending. For defense, select “Department of Defense” and then filter by sub-agency (Army, Navy, Air Force, etc.). For foreign aid, select “Agency for International Development” and “Department of State”.
• Download in bulk. Instead of clicking through pages, use the “Download” button to get the full dataset for a year, then filter in Excel.
• Look for the “Budget Function” column. In USAspending’s data, each transaction is tagged with a budget function code. Filter on “050” for defense and “150” for international affairs.
• Use the OMB’s “Public Budget Database” – it contains raw data tables that are easier to manipulate than PDFs.
• Set up alerts. Some sites like USAspending allow you to subscribe to updates. Or you can manually check quarterly.

Troubleshooting

• Data won’t download. Try a different browser or clear your cache. If the file is too large, use the “Filter” options to narrow down before downloading. For USAspending, you can also use their API if you’re comfortable with coding.
• Numbers don’t match between sources. Check the definitions. USAspending shows obligations for the selected fiscal year, while OMB historical tables show outlays. Also check if one source includes “classified” spending – some defense items are not itemized.
• Can’t find a specific program. Use the search function in the PDF or the filter in the database. For example, “Foreign Military Financing” is under the State Department, not USAID. Look at the “Agency” filter on foreignassistance.gov.
• PDF tables are too wide to read. Use the “Rotate View” or “Zoom” features. Or copy the table into a spreadsheet using the “Select Table” tool in Adobe Reader.
• Historical data is missing. OMB historical tables go back to 1962. For earlier data, check the “Budget of the United States” archives at govinfo.gov.
• You need real-time data. USAspending updates daily, but it may lag by a few days. For near-real-time, use the “Spending” API.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between budget authority and outlays?

Budget authority is the amount Congress allows an agency to commit to spend. Outlays are the actual cash disbursed during the year. For example, a multi-year contract may be awarded (budget authority) in FY 2024, but the cash payments (outlays) happen in FY 2025 and FY 2026.

How much does the U.S. spend on foreign aid each year?

It varies, but in recent years total foreign assistance (economic and military) has been around $40-50 billion annually, which is less than 1% of the federal budget. The exact figure depends on what you include – some definitions only count USAID and State, others include Defense Department security assistance.

How can I find defense spending by country?

Defense spending is not typically broken down by country for operations. However, you can find overseas contingency operations (OCO) funding for specific regions like Afghanistan or Iraq in the DoD budget documents. For foreign aid by country, use foreignassistance.gov.

Is USAspending.gov reliable?

Yes, it’s the official source mandated by the DATA Act. However, data quality can vary by agency. Some agencies report late or with errors. It’s best to cross-check with agency budget justifications for major programs.

What is the budget function code for defense?

Function 050 (National Defense) includes the Department of Defense, plus nuclear weapons activities in the Department of Energy, and some defense-related activities in other agencies. Function 150 (International Affairs) covers foreign aid, diplomacy, and international programs.

How do I adjust for inflation?

Use the GDP deflator or the CPI. The OMB historical tables provide a “Chain-type GDP Index” in Table 10.1. To convert nominal dollars to constant dollars, divide by the index for the base year and multiply by the index for the target year.

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