An official website of The President’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2019, sent to Congress on February 12, 2018, includes $661.1 million for the BBG.
The $661.1 million in the President’s FY 2019 Budget Request represents strategic investments that build on the BBG’s successful efforts in confronting state-sponsored disinformation, accelerating the shift to digital and interactive platforms, and strengthening accountability. The President’s FY 2019 Budget Request also includes program and operation reductions at the agency’s Offices of Technology, Services, and Innovation and Cuba Broadcasting, and at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, one of the BBG-sponsored networks.
Although the President’s FY19 funding request represents a $24 million reduction from the FY 2018 Budget Request, it prioritizes funding for the U.S. National Security Strategy objectives of “Preserving Peace through Strength” and “Advancing American Influence” by expanding freedom of information and expression and communicating America’s democratic experience and values. This includes enhancing reporting on violent extremism, premiering additional fact-based alternatives to Russian propaganda, and increasing content and distribution options to China and Iran.
