Global health agency on chopping block as Republicans threaten to cut off funds
FIRST ON FOX: A group of House Republicans is pushing to completely block U.S. funding for the World Health Organization (WHO).
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, policy chair for the conservative House Freedom Caucus, introduced the bill on Tuesday and argued the international health body "doesn't serve our interests and doesn't deserve our money."
He also attacked WHO member countries’ current effort to draft an international pandemic preparedness treaty, accusing the organization of a bid to consolidate and further its own influence.
"Taking money from hardworking families struggling with the aftermath of Biden's inflation crisis to send it to a bunch of leftist ‘public health’ tyrants in Geneva is unacceptable," Roy told Fox News Digital.
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"I am confident that President Trump will cut the WHO's funding off — as he did last time — but this legislation will ensure that no future administration can restart it."
At least a dozen GOP lawmakers are backing the bill.
A significant number of Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump, have been critical of the WHO, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Trump announced he was halting funding to the WHO during his first term in April 2020, a move that drew blowback from the U.S. medical community, Politico reported at the time.
"Fighting a global pandemic requires international cooperation and reliance on science and data," Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association, told the outlet.
However, conservatives in Congress have viewed the organization as a power-hungry group that did not take U.S. interests into account.
The U.S. is currently the biggest contributor to the WHO, according to World Population Review. The organization's website states that 60% of its funding comes from member states.
Roy’s "No Taxpayer Funding for the World Health Organization Act" would stop all contributions to WHO, both committed and other voluntary funding.
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A spokesperson for WHO said the body was focused on maintaining its relationship with the U.S. when reached for comment on Roy's bill.
"The WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in December, at a press conference, that the new U.S. administration has not yet taken office and it requires time, like any new government, to do so. As Dr Tedros has said, WHO will do everything to cooperate with the incoming U.S. administration to continue to strengthen global health security," the spokesperson said.
"I would add that the WHO-US partnership, and America’s contribution to global health security more broadly, has protected and saved millions of lives in America and around the world. WHO values greatly its relationship with the US and is committed to maintaining and strengthening it."