Office of Insular Affairs OIA

After the Spanish-American War of 1898 brought new overseas territories, their administration was scattered among the War and Navy departments. In 1934 Interior created a Division of Territories and Island Possessions, and over the following decades most territorial affairs moved there. The current Office of Insular Affairs was established in 1995 and reports to Interior's Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs.

The office coordinates federal policy and provides grants and technical assistance for American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, whose roughly 300,000 combined residents have limited or no voting representation in Congress. Puerto Rico, the largest territory, is handled largely outside the office. It also administers economic assistance under the Compacts of Free Association with the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau, sovereign nations whose citizens may live and work in the United States and whose defense the United States guarantees.

The compacts have gained strategic weight as China has expanded its influence in the Pacific. After a lapse in funding, Congress approved renewed compact assistance worth about $7.1 billion over twenty years in March 2024. Supporters across parties call the compacts a low-cost anchor for U.S. security in the region, while island leaders and some lawmakers have pressed for faster disbursement and for resolving lingering issues such as the legacy of U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands.