In 2014 these two threats became major concerns within the Obama Administration and among many Members of Congress. On November 5, 2014, the President requested FY2015 appropriations of $6.18 billion for Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of State and international assistance programs, and the Department of Defense (DOD) to contain the Ebola crisis domestically and overseas. On November 10, 2014, the President increased the FY2015 Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) request by $5.5 billion to combat IS. 113-235, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015), providing a total of more than $10.8 billion in emergency and OCO funds to address Ebola and counter the Islamic State. The President signed the full-year funding bill into law on December 16, 2014. The Emergency Request for the U.S. Ebola Response

The November 5, 2014 request of $6.18 billion was for U.S. government efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak, enhance domestic preparedness, and improve global capability to prevent the spread of other infectious diseases. Additionally, DOD would receive $112 million to advance its research and technologies to end the Ebola outbreak and other infectious diseases. The Ebola request would designate all requested budget authority as emergency requirements, so that it would effectively not be subject to the statutory discretionary spending limits established by the Budget Control Act of 2011, as amended ( P.L. 112-25 , BCA). Congress included $5.41 billion in its final appropriation bill: $2.77 billion for Health and Human Services, $2.53 billion for the Department of State, and $112 million for the Department of Defense. Funds are intended to support both domestic and international activities. As noted, Congress did not provide the requested contingency funding for HHS. Contingency Fund — P.L. The request included broad transfer authority of these funds to other accounts in the Department of State, USAID, or other federal agencies, provided that transfers were done in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), only for amounts designated by the President to address critical Ebola crisis needs, in addition to existing transfer authority, and with a 10-day advance notification to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Amended OCO Funds to Combat the Islamic State

Within the FY2015 appropriations ( P.L. Earlier, on November 10, 2014, the Administration had amended its FY2015 Overseas Contingency Operations request by adding $4.94 billion for DOD and $520 million for the Department of State to support efforts to combat the Islamic State (IS). DOD's earlier OCO request in June 2014 already had included an illustrative allocation of $500 million from the $4.0 billion requested in the Counterterrorism Response Fund (CTPF) to train and equip Syrian opposition forces to fight the Islamic State. According to DOD budget justification materials, the $4.94 billion is for
incremental military personnel expenses (e.g., hardship pay) for U.S. military supporting Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR); fuel, supplies, and repair costs for ground operations, flying hours, and steaming hours of ships in the region, as well as other support; command, control, and intelligence activities, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and classified activities; replacement of expended munitions (e.g., Hellfire, Maverick, Tomahawks); and $1.6 billion for building the capacity of Iraqi security forces and Kurdish and tribal forces, providing support to coalition members, and other small-scale humanitarian relief and reconstruction. 113-291 / H.R. For FY2015 Department of State efforts against IS, the $520 million amendment requested 
$8.6 million for D&CP to expand the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications' counterterrorism messaging in key languages and increase outreach and training programs aimed at countering IS propaganda; $100 million for ESF to engage the moderate Syrian opposition and improve its capacity and credibility; $250 million for FMF to support Jordan and Lebanon's efforts to protect their national territory and maintain control over their borders; $65 million for PKO to increase the capacity of the moderate Syrian opposition to counter IS; $90 million for IDA to provide humanitarian support related to IS attacks in Syria and Iraq, including food, protection, shelter, clean water, and other supplies; and $6.3 million to increase VOA broadcasting in Kurdish and Turkish language services, expand Middle East Broadcasting Network's Alhurra and Radio Sawa efforts to amplify and provide a platform for moderate Muslims to voice opposition to extremism over TV, radio, and Internet platforms. 3979 , the conference version of the FY2015 NDAA, continued the Continuing Resolution provision that funds training of vetted Syria opposition forces, and approved the DOD request for $1.618 billion for a new Iraq train-and-equip account.
In 2014, two major global threats—the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East—caused serious concern within the Obama Administration and among Members of Congress. In November 2014, the President requested a total of $11.7 billion for responding to the Ebola crisis and combatting the Islamic State.
On November 5, 2014, the President requested $6.18 billion in FY2015 emergency appropriations for Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of State and international assistance programs, and DOD to address the Ebola crisis domestically and overseas. The funding would enhance domestic preparedness and support overseas operations to end the current epidemic and prevent the spread of Ebola and other infectious diseases. The request included $2.43 billion for Health and Human Services, $2.10 billion for the Department of State and International Programs, and $112 million for the Department of Defense to advance research and technologies to control Ebola and other infectious diseases.
Appropriations requested for a new Contingency Fund (not Overseas Contingency Operations—OCO) totaling $1.54 billion under HHS and Department of State accounts were accompanied by a request for the authority to transfer these funds to any federal agency to help meet Ebola or other infectious disease-related critical needs that may suddenly arise, both domestically and overseas. In addition to the new Contingency Fund, the request also sought transfer authority for the emergency appropriations to any other federal accounts to meet the purposes specified in the request. The Administration asserted that these authorities are necessary for flexibility and a whole-of-government approach to this crisis.
On November 10, 2014, the President submitted to Congress an amended FY2015 OCO request for an additional $5.5 billion to combat IS—nearly $5 billion for DOD and $520 million for the Department of State. This brought the FY2015 OCO request to a total of $71.4 billion.
DOD's amended OCO funding request of $4.94 billion for FY2015 was for incremental U.S. military personnel expenses; fuel, supplies, and repair costs for ground, air, and sea-based operations, as well as other support; command, control, and intelligence activities, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and classified activities; replacement of expended munitions; building the capacity of Iraqi security forces and Kurdish and tribal forces; providing support to coalition members; and other small-scale humanitarian relief and reconstruction activities. In addition, DOD's earlier OCO request included an allocation of $500 million to train Syrian opposition forces to combat ISIS.
The Department of State's amended OCO request of $520 million was for expanding the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications' messaging in key languages; helping the moderate Syrian opposition develop capacity and credibility; supporting Jordan and Lebanon's territory and borders; humanitarian support related to IS attacks in Syria and Iraq; and expanding U.S. international broadcasting to provide a platform for moderate Muslims to voice opposition to extremism.
Both the Ebola and IS requests designated budget authority as either an emergency requirement or Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism (OCO/GWOT). Funds designated in this manner would effectively not be subject to the discretionary spending limits established by the Budget Control Act, 2011, as amended (P.L. 112-25), and could, therefore, increase the deficit.
The conference version of the Consolidated and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235), approved the DOD Ebola request and the $5.4 billion requested to combat the Islamic State plus an unspecified increase in Department of State OCO funds that is available to counter IS. The DOD total included $1.6 billion requested for a new Iraq train-and-equip account and $500 million to train vetted Syrian opposition forces, the more controversial elements. The FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 113-291/H.R. 3797), signed into law on December 19, 2014, reduced the amount and limited the authorities in a new Counterterrorism Response Partnership Fund (CTPF) that could include funds to train Syrian opposition forces, as well as other partnerships.