FY 2022 President’s Budget Request – GovWin FMA’s First Take

On Friday the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the Biden Administration’s long-awaited full fiscal year (FY) 2022 Budget Request. The complete budget release fills in the detail of the White House’s initial high-level FY 2022 Discretionary Budget Request released in April. The budget proposal includes $1.5T in top-line discretionary budget requests for federal departments and agencies, plus the administration’s policy and budget priorities in greater detail.

The GovWin Federal Market Analysis (FMA) team has dug into the available budget detail so that we could provide you with our first impressions of what we found noteworthy in the full discretionary budget request. We reviewed the largest federal departments’ budgets to get a sense of direction and priorities for FY 2022, which will begin October 1, 2021. Below is a summary graphic followed by key funding details and initiatives arranged by department.

Air Force

The president’s budget request provides $212.8B in total discretionary funding for the Department of the Air Force (USAF), a 4.3% increase over the FY 2021 enacted level. This includes $17.4B for the U.S. Space Force (USSF), a 13.1% increase over FY 2021 enacted level. The total Department of the Air Force budget includes $10.1B in so-called Direct War and Enduring Costs.

Funding highlights include:

• Includes Operations and Maintenance funding of $63.2B for the USAF and $3.4B for USSF, $2.3B and $800M more than enacted in FY 2021 respectively.
• Provides $22.9B for Procurement at the USAF and $2.8B for the USSF. The USAF sees a $3.2B decrease and USSF sees a $500M increase from enacted FY 2021 levels.
• Allocates $28.8B and $11.3B for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation at the USAF and USSF respectively, representing $2.6B and $800M increases respectively from the enacted FY 2021 level.
• Includes $6.8B for USAF core command and control (C2) functions.
• Funds the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) at $204M, an increase of $46M from the FY 2021 enacted level. ABMS is the Air Force contribution to Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2).
• Requests $811M for Enterprise Information Technology (EIT) to enable the AF to modernize IT infrastructure.
• Provides $17.1M for the Space Force Unified Data Library (UDL) to provide all-domain secure Space Domain Awareness (SDA) data sharing.

Navy

The president’s budget requests $211.7B for the Department of the Navy, an increase of $3.8B (1.8%) from the FY 2021 enacted level. This includes $7.5B in so-called Direct War and Enduring Costs.

Funding highlights include:

• Includes $71.2B for Operations and Maintenance, 3.5% more than the enacted FY 2021 level.
• Provides $58.2B for Procurement, 5.7% below the FY 2021 enacted level.
• Allocates $8.9B for Other Procurement, including $177M for Information Security, $1.1B for Combat Communications and $495M for Tactical Command and Control
• Allocates $22.6B for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, 12.3% more than the FY 2021 enacted level.
  • Funds for science and technology with $2.4B to develop key technologies such as advanced and networked weapons, unmanned systems, hypersonics, cyber tech, and the Columbia class submarine.
• Provides $3.0B for DON Infrastructure, a 13.9% increase from FY 2021.
• Allocates $1.64B for Cyber activities, including $839M for cybersecurity, $242M for Cyber Operations, $509M for Cyber Mission Forces and $49M for Marine Cyber Forces.

Army

The president’s budget requests $172.7B in discretionary funding for the Department of the Army, including $8B in so-called Direct War and Enduring Costs. The Army’s discretionary base budget request is 1% less than the $174.3B enacted for Fiscal Year 2021.

Funding highlights include:

• Includes $65.3B for Operations and Maintenance, 1.16% more than enacted in FY 2021.
• Provides $1.25B for O&M Cyber Activities.
• Provides $21.3B for Procurement, 9.7% less than the level enacted in FY 2021.
• Allocates $8.9B for Other Procurement, including $177M for Information Security, $1.1B for Combat Communications and $495M for Tactical Command and Control.
• Allocates $12.8B for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, 8% less than enacted in FY 2021.
• Provides $1.3B for Advanced Technology Development, $1.4B for Operational System Development and $119M for the new category of Software and Digital Technology.
• Continues support for the Army’s 8 modernization initiatives established in FY 2018, including the 6 priorities of Long Range Precision Fires, Next Generation Combat Vehicle, Future Vertical Lift, Network, Air and Missile Defense and Soldier Lethality.
• Supports cloud migration to MS-Office 365.

Defense Agencies

The president’s budget requests $117.8B in discretionary funding for Defense Agencies, 0.5% less than the $118.4B enacted for Fiscal Year 2021.

Funding highlights include:

• Includes $82.3B for Operations and Maintenance, 0.7% more than enacted in FY 2021
• Provides $5.9B for Procurement, a reduction of 20% from the level enacted in FY 2021
• Allocates $26.1B for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, 0.8% more than the level enacted in FY 2021
• Provides $688M in O&M funding for cybersecurity across all Defense Agencies
• Funds the Defense Health Program with $35.6B, a 2.6% increase from the enacted level in FY 2021
• Funds joint air and missile defense research and development, advanced innovation technologies and missile defense technology demonstrations with an additional $500M
• Maintains requested Basic Research funding at $2.3B, investing in artificial intelligence/machine learning, quantum science, neuroscience, novel engineered materials, understanding human and social behavior, engineered biology and manufacturing sciences

Health and Human Services

The president’s budget request provides $131.8B in base discretionary budget authority for HHS, which is a 23.6% increase from the FY 2021 enacted level.

Funding highlights include:

• Strengthens national and global readiness for the next public health crisis by providing $8.7B for CDC, an increase of $1.6B billion over the FY 2021 enacted level and the largest increase for CDC in nearly 20 years. CDC would use this additional funding to support core public health capacity improvements in states and territories, modernize public health data collection nationwide and train a cadre of epidemiologists and other public health experts.
• Provides the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) with $905M to replenish and maintain the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).  
• Doubles funding to $4.4B to provide for refugees and unaccompanied migrant children.
• Invests $8.5B in IHS, an increase of $2.2B, to promote health equity for American Indians and Alaska Natives.
• Provides $19.8B for early care and education programs in ACF, including $11.9B for Head Start, which provides services to children and pregnant women, and $7.4B for the Child Care and Development Block Grant program.
• Promotes biomedical research through a $52B budget for NIH, a $9B increase over the FY 2021 enacted level, which includes $6.5B to establish the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). ARPA-H’s initial focus would be on cancer and other diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
• Advances the goal of ending the opioid crisis with a $10.7B investment and commits to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic with a $670M investment.
• Prioritizes mental health by providing $1.6B for the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant, more than double the FY 2021 enacted level.
• Requests $7.0B in IT funding which is a .03% increase over FY 2021 enacted levels.

Veterans Affairs

The president’s budget request provides $113.1B in base discretionary budget authority for VA, an 8.2% increase over the FY 2021 enacted level. Total discretionary amounts to $117.2 with inclusion of $4.1B for medical collections. The budget request also includes $111.3B in advance appropriations for VA medical care programs in FY 2023.

Funding highlights include:

• Funds VA medical care with $97.5B, a $7.6B or 8.5% increase over FY 2021. These funds support continued improvement to veteran healthcare access, including increases in funding for women’s health, mental health, suicide prevention, and veterans’ homeless programs.
• Provides $3.7B for the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) for claims processing, continued modernization of the education business platform (Digital GI Bill), specially adapted housing program increases, and Veterans’ Clean Energy Job Program in conjunction with the Department of Labor.
• Provides $2.6B for veterans’ homelessness programs, and $589M dedicated to veteran suicide prevention.
• Supports the veteran caregivers program with $1.4B.
• Provides $4.8B for VA’s Office of Information Technology to modernize VA information technology by piloting application transformation efforts, supporting cloud modernization, delivering efficient information technology services, and enhancing customer service experience.
• Advances VA’s Electronic Health Program with $2.7B to continue modernizing VA’s Electronic Health Record.
• Includes $2.2B for major and minor construction, including funding for twelve medical facility and two cemetery expansion projects.

Education

The president’s budget request provides $102.8B in base discretionary budget authority for Education, which is a 41% increase from the FY 2021 enacted level.

Funding highlights include:

• Provides $36.5B for Title I grants, a $20B increase compared to the FY 2021 enacted level, to help school districts deliver a high-quality education to students from low-income families. This investment provides the single largest year-over-year increase since the inception of the Title I program.
• Increases Pell Grant funding by $3B and ups the maximum Pell Grant by $400 to makes college more affordable for low- and middle-income students pursuing education beyond high school.
• Funds special education programs with $17.5B, including $15.5B for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants, a $2.6 billion increase over FY 2021.
• Prioritizes the physical and mental well-being of students by providing $1B to increase the number of counselors, nurses, and mental health professionals in schools.
• Provides $1.6B to support additional certifications for more than 100,000 educators in high-demand areas like special education, bilingual education, career and technical education, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
• Requests $982M for IT, which is a 4% decrease in FY 2021, enacted levels.  

Housing and Urban Development

The president’s request provides $68.7B in discretionary funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, an increase of 15.1% over the level enacted in FY 2021.

Funding highlights include:

• Includes $437M for IT, a decrease of $10M from the enacted level in FY 2021.
• Provides $24.9B for Public and Indian Housing.
• Allocates $14B for Housing Programs.
• Contains $9.6B for Community Planning and Development.
• Provides $145M for Policy Development and Research.
• Contains $323.2M for HUD’s Information Technology Fund focused on modernization and O&M initiatives.
• Adds $161K to HUD’s Working Capital Fund to support end-user device services and wireless support.

State and USAID

The president’s budget provides $58.5B is for the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), a $5.5B (+10%) increase from the 2021 enacted level.

Funding highlights include:

• Provides $2.7B for IT for State and $263M for USAID, with represent a $199M (+8%) and $7M (+3%) increase respectively. State’s IT budget includes an increase of more than $100M for cybersecurity.
• Allots $10.1B for global health programs, including nearly $1B to expand global health security programs and support an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, an $8M increase over the FY 2021 enacted level.
• Supplies over $10B in refugee and humanitarian assistance to support vulnerable people abroad, including refugees, conflict victims, and other displaced persons.
• Requests $6.1B for global security programs to protect personnel, embassies, and cybersecurity around the globe, including to expand real-time threat monitoring, accelerate security vetting, and the construction or renovation of embassies and consulates.
• Provides $2B for United Nations (UN) peacekeeping efforts, roughly $500M above FY 2021.
• Allocates $2.5B for international climate programs, more than four times the 2021 enacted level, including $1.2B (split with Treasury) for the Green Climate Fund, $700M in State and USAID climate-related assistance and $485M to support other multilateral climate initiatives.
• Requests $861M for U.S. efforts to drive systemic reform and address the root causes of irregular migration from Central America to the U.S.

Homeland Security

The president’s budget requests $52.2B in total discretionary budget for DHS, $2.2B below the $54.4B FY 2021 enacted level.

Funding highlights include:

• Provides $8.1B for IT, which is a $728M (+10%) increase over the FY 2021 Enacted level. This includes $93M to the DHS Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) for SolarWinds mitigation efforts.
• Requests $2.1B for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to enhance cybersecurity tools, hire highly qualified experts, and obtain support services. This is a $110M increase from the FY 2021 enacted level to build upon the $650M provided for CISA in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). This includes:
  • $408M for civilian IT infrastructure for the National Cybersecurity Protection System (EINSTEIN).
  • $178M for CISA emergency communications programs.
  • $20M for a new Cyber Response and Recovery Fund (CRRF) to enable CISA to support critical infrastructure in responding to and recovering from significant cyber incidents.
• Provides $1.2B for border infrastructure in part to modernize land ports of entry and border security technology, including $47M for Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) technologies. No additional funding for border wall construction is requested.
• Proposes $618M for research and development, including $54M for cybersecurity data analytics, $39M for climate resilience, $36M for transportation security technologies and $10M for domestic terrorism prevention and response research.
• Includes a $540M increase to incorporate climate impacts into pre-disaster planning and resilience efforts.
• Requests $345M for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to address naturalization and asylum backlogs, support up to 125,000 refugee admissions in 2022, and allow for systems and operations modernization.
• Allocates $131M to prevent domestic terrorism, including research on the root causes of radicalization and enhanced community outreach. Grants account for $95M of this total.
• Allocates $127M for the Secure Flight risk-based, intelligence driven watch list matching capability and $105M for the Checkpoint Property Screening System (CPSS) to procure 126 Computed Tomography (CT) screening systems.

Energy

The president’s budget request provides $46.2B in base discretionary funding for DOE, a $4.3B increase over the FY 2021 enacted level.

Funding highlights include:

• Sustains NNSA at $19.7B, including $15.5B for Weapons Activities, $2.3B for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation funds, and $1.9B for Naval Reactors.
• Funds the Office of Science at $7.4B, including $445M for exascale computing, $301M for quantum, and $129M for AI/ML.
• Provides $1.9B to the Office of Nuclear Energy to enable commercialization of climate change and clean energy innovations.
• Requests $4.7B for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) to achieve carbon-pollution free electricity by 2035 and net-zero emissions by 2050.
• Increases Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) funding to $201M to develop risk management tools to combat cyber threats within the energy sector.
• Establishes the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Climate (ARPA-C) with $200M.
• Allocates $2.6B in the FY 2022 IT budget request, an increase of 4.2% from $2.5B enacted for FY 2021.

Justice

The president’s budget request includes $35.3B in base discretionary budget authority for DOJ, a $1.9B increase over the FY 2021 enacted level.

Funding highlights include:

• Sustains top department bureaus at 2021 levels such as FBI ($10.3B), DEA ($2.4B) and ATF ($1.5B).
• Requests $7.0B, an increase of $2B, for grant programs including Office of Justice Programs, Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and the Office on Violence Against Women.
• Includes $4.5B for State, local and tribal assistance programs.
• Counters the surge in domestic terrorism threat with $101M in new investments.  
• Proposes an additional $151M to bolster cyber investigations and cybersecurity of DOJ systems.
  • Provides $93M under the JMD Cybersecurity Initiative investment, an increase of $87M to address new cyber threats.
• Allocates $3.4B in the FY 2022 IT budget request, an increase of 10.7% from $3.1B enacted for FY 2021.

Agriculture

The president’s budget request includes $27.8B in discretionary funding for the Department of Agriculture, a 16% increase from the level enacted in FY 2021.

Funding highlights include:

• Provides $2.75B for IT, an increase of $100M from the FY 2021 enacted level.
• Funds the Forest Service with $9.2B.
• Allocates $4.8B for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
• Provides $1.6B for the Farm Service Agency.
• Allocates $1.9B for the Agricultural Research Service.
• Schedules $1.8B for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
• Provides $101M for the Office of the Chief Information Officer, including $17.4M for enhancing departmental cybersecurity.
• Funds the Farm Production and Conservation Business Center with $298M to optimize business process improvements, provide interagency services, incorporate robotic process automation and build analytics dashboards.

Transportation

The president’s request provides $25.7B in discretionary funding for the Department of Transportation, 14% more than the total enacted in FY 2021.

Funding highlights include:

• Includes $3.47B for IT, an increase of $15M from the FY 2021 enacted level.
• Provides $47B (inc. mandatory spending) for the Federal Highway Administration.
• Contains $18.5B for the Federal Aviation Administration.
• Allocates $13.5B for the Federal Transit Administration.
• Provides $4B for the Federal Railroad Administration.
• Allocates $1.1B for the Maritime Administration.
• Contains $1.75B for the Office of the Secretary of Transportation.
• Provides $39.4M for the Cybersecurity Initiative, improving the DOT’s security posture.
• Funds Transportation Research and Technology with $43.4M.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The president’s budget request provides $24.8B in base discretionary budget authority for NASA, a $1.6B increase over the FY 2021 enacted level.

Funding highlights include:

• Includes $7.9B for the Science mission (+$631M from 2021), including $3.2B for Planetary Science, $2.2B for Earth Science, $1.4B for Astrophysics, and $797M for Heliophysics.
• Provides $4.5B for Exploration Systems Development, including $2.5B for Space Launch System (SLS), $1.4B for the Orion program, and $590M for Exploration Grounds Systems for Mobile Launcher 2.
• Requests $1.2B for the Human Landing System to enable the goal of landing the first woman and first person of color on the Moon.
• Proposes $3.0B for Safety, Security, and Mission Services, including $612M for enterprise information technology.
• Increases the Aeronautics program by $86M to $914M to accelerate green aviation initiatives.
• Allocates $2.1B in the FY 2022 IT budget request, a decrease of 3.8% from $2.2B enacted for FY 2021.

Interior

The president’s budget request includes $17.8B in base discretionary budget authority for DOI, a $2.1B increase over the FY 2021 enacted level.

Funding highlights include:

• Expands all DOI Indian Affairs programs with $4.2B, an increase of $728M, and includes $2.7B for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and $1.3B for the Bureau of Indian Education.
• Requests $2.8B, an increase of $242M, for operations, maintenance, repair and construction of DOI facilities.
• Proposes $1.1B, an increase of $188M, to support the Wildland Fire Management program.
• Commits $461M, an increase of $300M, to plug orphan oil and gas wells and clean abandoned mines.
• Emphasizes strengthened cyber defense capabilities and related gaps among bureaus with $26M.
• Allocates $1.5B in the FY 2022 IT budget request, an increase of 1.9% from $1.5B enacted for FY 2021.

Treasury

The president’s budget request provides $15.0 in base discretionary budget authority for Treasury, an 11.3% increase from the FY 2021 enacted level.

Funding highlights include:

• Provides $13.2B for the IRS, a $1.2B or 10.4% increase over FY 2021 enacted levels. This funding would allow the IRS to increase oversight of high-income and corporate tax returns to ensure compliance; provide new and improved online tools for taxpayers; and improve telephone and in-person taxpayer customer service.
• Includes $132M for the department-wide Cybersecurity Enhancement Account to address breach mitigation activities due to SolarWinds and other emerging risk areas.
• Provides $191M for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to create a database that tracks the ownership and control of certain companies and organizations and to help combat the use of complex corporate structures to shield illegal activity.
• Provides $330M to expand the role of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) which provide loans to start-ups and small businesses to promote the production of affordable housing and community revitalization projects.
• Requests $5.9B for IT, which is a 10% increase over FY 2021 enacted levels.

Labor

The president’s budget request provides $14.2B in base discretionary budget authority for HHS, which is a 14% increase from the FY 2021 enacted level.

Funding highlights include:

• Invests $2.1B in Labor’s worker protection agencies, a $304M increase, to enable the enforcement and regulatory work needed to ensure workers’ wages, benefits, and rights are protected.
• Expands access to registered apprenticeships (RA) by providing $285M, a $100M increase, to expand RA opportunities while increasing access for historically underrepresented groups, including people of color and women.
• Proposes $3.7B for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act State Grants to make employment services and training available to more dislocated workers, low-income adults, and disadvantaged youth hurt by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Provides $100M to support the development of information technology solutions for unemployment insurance systems that can be deployed in states to ensure timely and equitable access to benefits.
• Includes a $100M investment for Labor’s role in the new multi-agency POWER+ Initiative, aimed at reskilling and reemploying displaced workers in Appalachian communities.
• Requests $819M for IT, which matches the FY 2021 enacted level.

General Services Administration

The president’s budget request provides $12.0B in base discretionary budget authority for GSA, a $2.4B increase over the FY 2021 enacted level.

• Provides $11.0B for the Federal Buildings Fund (FBF), including $5.9B for Rental of Space, $2.9B for Building Operations, and $1.7B for Repairs and Alterations.
• Requests $500M for the Technology Modernization Fund to help strengthen federal cyber and retire legacy systems.
• Allocates $300M to procure zero emission and electric vehicles with related charging infrastructure.
• Supports the migration of MAX.gov Shared Services from OMB to GSA.
• Allocates $701M in the FY 2022 IT budget request, a decrease of 8.3% from $765M enacted for FY 2021.

Commerce

The president’s budget request provides $15.5B in base discretionary budget authority for DOC, a $2.8B increase over the FY 2021 enacted level.

Funding highlights include:

• Requests $6.9B at NOAA, a $1.4B increase over FY 2021, which includes $800M to expand climate research investments.
• Includes $4.0B for the USPTO’s request for authority to spend fee collections.  
• Increases NIST’s budget to $1.5B, including an expansion in cybersecurity, AI, quantum, biotechnology and advanced manufacturing activities, and to bolster NIST manufacturing programs for small and medium-sized manufacturers. 
• Consolidates previous appropriations under the Bureau of Census to a “Censuses and Survey Programs” line item.
• Grows the Minority Business Development Administration by 46% with a $70M budget request.
• Allocates $2.6B in the FY 2022 IT budget request, a decrease of 8.1% from $2.8B enacted for FY 2021.

Federal Information Technology (IT) Budget

The FY 2022 IT budget for Civilian departments and agencies provided by OMB and posted to the IT Dashboard lists total investments at $58.4B, $1.3B above the $57.1B enacted for FY 2021. However, as of this posting the data feed detail of the IT Portfolio lists lower total Civilian IT dollars by $1B for both FY 2022 and FY 2021 – $57.4B for FY 2022 and $56.1B for FY 2021. It is unclear why there is a discrepancy.

Further, Department of Defense (DOD) IT amounts are not included in any of the OMB budget artifacts and the DOD has not yet published detailed IT budget information on their own. Hopefully, this information is forthcoming and will not be kept behind the veil of national security in a wholesale fashion.

In addition to the traditional departmental IT budgets, the FY 2022 budget requests $500M for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) to strengthen federal cybersecurity and retire legacy systems, over and above the $1B provided for the TMF in the ARPA for this purpose. The TMF

Additional Analysis Coming Soon

The budget highlights listed above provide our initial major observations from OMB’s budget release. In the coming days the GovWin Federal Market Analysis team will be publishing more robust analysis of the FY 2022 budget, where we will go into greater detail on the key initiatives, IT investments and contractor implications that will shape the federal IT marketplace as we head into FY 2022.

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GovWin Federal Market Analysis (FMA) team members Christine Fritsch, Angie Petty and Alex Rossino contributed to this article.