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Dear Board of Directors,

Tuesday night was spectacular and a big shout out to UPS, CRS and all of our Vice Chairs and Dinner Committee members!

1. Tribute Dinner. I have to say, this year was one of the most difficult balancing acts in showcasing our incredible achievements on the budget, while being mindful of our Administration allies and friends in the room, but I think we found the winning formula.

A few highlights:

* First, this was one of our largest dinners ever in terms of dollars raised and attendance, and in this environment, that really says something – with more senior Hill staffers and high-level journalists than ever before.
* Ambassador Haley was superb and I had a chance to talk to her privately about how she could help us with the budget challenges ahead, which was very helpful (amazing how much lobbying you can do in the privacy of a cramped ladies room when two women are putting on microphones under one’s dresses!)
* Senator Graham, as always, knocked it out of the park – not only with his heartfelt tribute to our military leaders, but with his concluding words that we are going to end the budget negotiations with more, not less foreign assistance!
* The video from General Mattis was very special, and the private meeting with our National Security Advisory Council members and H.R. McMaster was fairly sobering – I don’t think he could decide if he was a member of the Administration, or one of his buddies around the table.
* But the most emotional moment for me, was when nearly 50 of our three and four-star military leaders all went up on stage to a standing ovation from our nearly 1,000 guests. It was a profound moment to consider the power of what they have done for our cause and what the USGLC has done to change history on this issue. They were so touched by the evening, and General Zinni and Admiral Stavridis were fantastic on stage.

Here are the photos from the dinner<https://www.flickr.com/photos/usglc/sets/72157690675720865> and a wonderful 2-minute highlights clip<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CInZtoP2Ioc> that’s worth watching:

[cid:image001.png@01D37058.DA780CD0]<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CInZtoP2Ioc>

At the Board meeting in January, I do want to discuss the importance of our Board members attending the Tribute Dinner. This year, 50% of the board missed the event. It wasn’t just disappointing, but it actually was problematic as we had a very high level of VIPs this year and it was very difficult to manage it without sufficient leadership. I think it’s an important discussion as to why so few of our leadership attends our signature event.

2. Budget News. As I’m sure you’ve seen, after some last minute negotiating between House Republican leadership and the Freedom Caucus, Congress easily passed a Continuing Resolution that keeps the government running until December 22nd – giving lawmakers another two weeks to negotiate a budget deal that lifts the discretionary spending caps. A few updates:

* Republicans will try to get tax reform done and to the President’s desk next week; leaving the following week to hammer out the final details of a budget deal.
* Rumors abound that a budget deal will include a significant bump in defense and non-defense discretionary spending – the 302(a) allocations. We’re working closely with Appropriators to make sure that the additional funding translates into a higher 302(b) allocation for the International Affairs Budget.
* Once lawmakers come to agreement on a budget deal, Congress will pass another short-term Continuing Resolution to fund the government through early-to-mid January in order to give Appropriators time to draft the final FY18 spending bills.

For those who were at the Tribute Dinner, you heard Senator Graham say, “When this is all over, we’re gonna have more money for foreign assistance, not less.” With champions like him and Chairman Rogers, I’m hopeful that the International Affairs Budget will end the year in a much better place than where it started, but there is still much work (and negotiating) to be done. Stay tuned.

3. State/USAID Personnel Updates. I continue to be very concerned about the hiring freeze at State and USAID and other personnel issues. I have an op-ed coming out in The Hill on Monday on this topic.

We’ve been educating members on Capitol Hill with a new fact sheet<http://www.usglc.org/blog/fact-sheet-dramatic-decline-diplomatic-development-personnel-dangerous-america/> on the subject, and this week met with meet with the Associate Director of White House Personnel, Margaux Matter, who handles State and USAID. Some of you may remember her when she worked for Rep. Fortenberry and PepsiCo. Few takeaways:

* Margaux was forthcoming about some of the hiring challenges they’re encountering, including nominees with complicated finances and business dealings that are leading to longer background investigations. She assured us that nominations are happening though, including for some of the posts we are most concerned with.
* She asked for our help with nominees for some key bureaus so if you have ideas, please let John Glenn (jglenn@usglc.org)<mailto:jglenn@usglc.org)> know as soon as possible, including: Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, State Department (E Bureau) and the head of the Global Women’s Issues, State Department.

Lindsay sent a more detailed budget update<http://www.usglc.org/the-budget/congress-passes-two-week-cr-buys-time-budget-deal-negotiations/> today, and we will keep you posted on the negotiations next week. Enjoy your weekend.

Liz
Liz Schrayer, USGLC