The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved last week a measure that would make changes to foreign assistance programs, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), CQ.com and Foreign Policy.com both report. The approved bill would authorize $255 million over six years to establish a council within the executive branch to research and evaluate foreign assistance programs. The bill would establish, within USAID, an assistant administrator for policy and strategic planning and a bureau that would, according to CQ.com, “develop policy and long-term strategy, evaluate program effectiveness, and establish resource and workforce allocation criteria.”