A draft copy of the review, which is titled "A New Way Forward on Global Development," is known internally as the Presidential Study Directive on Global Development or PSD-7.
One important section of the seven-page document would establish an interagency "development policy committee" -- moving the responsibility for coordinating U.S. policy on development out of the State Department. At issue is whether State should have the ultimate authority over development policy or whether oversight should be done by the new interagency body, which reports up to the president.
The draft document also calls for an overall review of U.S. development strategy every four years (separate from the State Department's Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, or QDDR), and the design of country and/or regional strategies to "organize U.S. engagement and inform resource allocation."
The idea of a government-wide, independent committee to oversee development is one that Senate Foreign Relations Committee heads John Kerry, D-MA, and Richard Lugar, R-IN, also support.
The draft also outlines of how the relationship between State and USAID should work. The document says that USAID should have "responsibility and accountability for a core development and humanitarian assistance budget," as well as a robust policy planning staff, a leadership role in setting strategies and the "mandate, where appropriate, to lead U.S. government development efforts in the field."
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah would "be included in NSC meetings where appropriate" if this draft document's recommendations were adopted, but he would also still report up to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, not directly to the White House.
The QDDR is led by Shah and Deputy Secretary Jack Lew, with heavy input from Policy Planning chief Anne-Marie Slaughter. The PSD-7 is led by top National Security Council aides Gayle Smith, Michael Froman, and Jeremy Weinstein.
The interim report of the QDDR is expected to be released soon.
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