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Chair questions State Department budget cuts, PEPFAR changes and expiring humanitarian supplies
Summary
Deputy Secretary Michael Regas defended the administration's FY2026 State Department request and restructuring of foreign assistance; lawmakers pressed him on cuts to programs including PEPFAR, plans for the "America First Opportunity Fund," and reports of emergency food and therapeutic supplies expiring in warehouses.
Deputy Secretary Michael Regas told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the administration's fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Department of State is $28.5 billion, a reduction the witness described as aligning foreign assistance to "core interests of the American people." He said the proposed total is "a decrease of $25,900,000,000 or 48% below the FY25 appropriations."
Regas and other witnesses framed reform of foreign assistance as a shift toward the secretary's stated "America First" priorities. Regas said the administration proposes a new "America First Opportunity Fund" to centralize discretionary foreign assistance at the State Department, with the secretary exercising control and public accountability over disbursements.
Committee members from both parties pressed Regas on the…
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