On March 9, 2023, President Biden released his $6.9 trillion funding request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, known as his “Budget Request.” The Budget Request serves as the President’s proposal for federal agency funding for the upcoming FY and reflects his policy priorities. In response, Congress will begin developing appropriations bills based on the President’s Budget Request and congressional priorities.
The Budget Request provides specific funding numbers and highlights the policy priorities of the Administration. For Indian Affairs, it focuses on increasing federal funding for Indian Health Service, public safety, and transportation. Additionally, the Budget Request contains substantial funding for clean energy and transitioning away from fossil fuels. Some of the specific funding provisions for tribal programs are:
- Bureau of Indian Affairs: $3 billion, a $482.8 million increase over FY 2023
- Operation of Indian Programs: $2.3 billion, $350.6 million above FY 2023, including programs for natural resource and energy stewardship, community services, law enforcement, tribal homeland restoration, tribal governance, and economic opportunity
- Tribal Public Safety and Justice: $717 million, an $86 million increase over FY 2023
- Indian Health Service: $8.1 billion in discretionary funding, a $2.2 billion increase over FY 2023, with $9.4 billion in total discretionary and mandatory funding for FY 2024
- Tribal Transportation Program: $602 million
The full Budget Request can be found here, and the White House Fact Sheet on funding for Indian Country is available here.
The federal agencies also provide overviews of the proposed budgets. The Department of the Interior’s Budget in Brief, which oversees a majority of Indian Country programs, can be found here.