H.R. 7642 would authorize the Department of State to hire professionals with expertise in procurement, logistics, finance, public health, and related fields to plan and implement international disaster assistance operations. Under current law, the department’s Bureau of Disaster and Humanitarian Response does not have a program aimed at recruiting professionals in disaster assistance.
Using information about the department’s personnel costs, CBO estimates that under the bill, the department would hire and train 10 employees each year over a 3-year period, for a total of 30 employees. CBO further estimates that after their first year, 80 percent of those employees would be posted overseas. Compensation, operating expenses, and support costs would average $240,000 for employees in the United States and $660,000 for employees stationed overseas. After accounting for the time needed to hire, train, and deploy those employees, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 7642 would cost $56 million over the 2026-2031 period. Such spending would be subject to the appropriation of the estimated amounts.
The estimated budgetary effects of the legislation are shown in Table 1. The costs of the legislation fall within budget function 150 (international affairs).
Table 1.
Estimated Budgetary Effects of H.R. 7642
By Fiscal Year, Millions of Dollars
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2026-2031
Increases in Spending Subject to Appropriation
Estimated Authorization
0
2
8
14
18
18
60
Estimated Outlays
0
2
7
12
17
18
56
CBO’s estimate is subject to some uncertainty. Costs could differ from the amounts estimated here if the department hires more or fewer people than CBO expects.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Sunita D’Monte. The estimate was reviewed by Chad Chirico, Director of Budget Analysis.
