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HR 8625
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USTDA Modernization Act of 2026

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize assistance for certain development activities in high-income countries, and for other purposes.

Introduced Apr 30, 2026

Latest action (Apr 30, 2026) Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Referred to
Foreign Affairs Committee
Policy area
International Affairs
Issues
Foreign Policy

Summary
  • Authorizes the U.S. Trade and Development Agency to allocate up to 15 percent of its annual funds for assistance activities in high-income countries, particularly in energy, critical minerals, transport, and telecommunications sectors.
  • Increases the number of Senior Executive Service positions at the Trade and Development Agency from 2 to 5.
  • Authorizes the Trade and Development Agency to hire personal services contractors, who will not be classified as federal employees.
  • Requires the Trade and Development Agency to submit annual reports to Congress on personal services contractors, including their roles and associated costs.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)
1 cosponsor

Actions (2)
  1. Apr 30, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. · house
  2. Apr 30, 2026 Introduced in House

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

  • HR 9087 — To direct the Secretary of State to take actions with respect to certain foreign affairs matters. · Introduced Jun 2, 2026 · Cong. 119 67%
  • HR 6196 — Locally Led Development and Humanitarian Response Act · Introduced Mar 26, 2026 · Cong. 119 66%
  • HR 8582 — Protecting Human Rights and Public Health in Foreign Assistance Act · Introduced Apr 29, 2026 · Cong. 119 66%
  • HR 9086 — Foreign Service Modernization Act · Passed House Sep 17, 2026 · Cong. 119 66%
  • HR 8661 — Foreign Military Financing Loan Authorization Act of 2026 · Introduced May 13, 2026 · Cong. 119 64%
  • HR 9260 — Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2027 · Introduced Jun 11, 2026 · Cong. 119 64%

Text versions (1)
  • Introduced in House · Apr 30, 2026

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 30, 2026

Mr. Moylan (for himself and Ms. Tokuda) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

A BILL

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize assistance for certain development activities in high-income countries, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “United States Trade and Development Agency Modernization Act of 2026” or the “USTDA Modernization Act of 2026”.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that the United States Trade and Development Agency plays a critical role in advancing United States commercial, energy, digital, and infrastructure interests in priority emerging markets by supporting early-stage project preparation and technical assistance and should be authorized to allocate some of its annual program funds for activities in high-income countries that directly affect United States economic and national security.

SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF COUNTRY ELIGIBILITY.

Section 661(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2421(b)) is amended—

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively; and

(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:

“(3) Assistance in high-income countries.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Director of the Trade and Development Agency is authorized to provide not more than 15 percent of the total amount of funds appropriated in a fiscal year for assistance under this section for—

“(A) activities described in paragraph (2) in high-income countries; or

“(B) projects in high-income countries that serve United States strategic interests in the energy, critical minerals, transport, or telecommunications sectors.”.

SEC. 4. PERSONNEL AUTHORITIES.

Section 661(c) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2421(c)) is amended—

(1) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking “2” and inserting “5” before “may be appointed”; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

“(3) Personal services contractors.—

“(A) The Trade and Development Agency may contract with individuals for personal services, and such individuals may not be considered Federal employees for the purpose of any provision of law administered by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.

“(B) The Director shall submit to Congress an annual report describing the number of individuals contracted for personal services by the Trade and Development Agency, the roles of such contractors, and the costs associated with such contracts.”. <all>

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