White House proposes cutting billions in UN contributions

Several U.N. agencies have announced pending layoffs, with the organization as a whole facing major reforms to stay afloat.

By Mike Wagenheim, JNS

The Trump administration proposed crippling cuts to the United Nations on Tuesday as it sent a package of rescission requests to Congress in an effort to claw back billions of dollars in foreign aid appropriations.

Among the proposals forwarded to Capitol Hill was a rescission request for nearly $437 million, representing the entirety of fiscal year 2025 funds for international organizations and programs, known as IOP.

That money largely goes to the United Nations, funding Washington’s voluntary contributions to a number of U.N. agencies.

“In the past, these voluntary contributions have compounded the excessive burden of America’s disproportionately high contributions,” the proposal said.

“Enacting this rescission would encourage international organizations to be more efficient, down-scope their sprawling missions and seek contributions from other member nations and donors, putting American taxpayers first.”

A separate proposed rescission would pull $203 million from U.N. peacekeeping missions. That’s part of the $1.4 billion appropriated for that cause in fiscal year 2024.

“U.N. peacekeeping has been fraught with waste and abuse, as evidenced by the abject failure of the Lebanon peacekeeping mission to contain Hezbollah,” the proposal read, alluding to UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force for Lebanon, which patrols the Israel-Lebanon border.

Israel and others have heavily criticized UNIFIL for failing to take meaningful action against the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group which long ruled the southern part of the country, and which enhanced its terror capabilities under UNIFIL’s nose, leading to near daily attacks from Israel’s north between Oct. 8, 2023 and Nov. 27, 2024.

The United Nations is already facing a daunting financial crisis, partly due to unpaid mandatory contributions by member states, including the United States.

Several U.N. agencies have announced pending layoffs, with the organization as a whole facing major reforms to stay afloat.

The global body has come under heavy criticism for its constant attacks on Israel, especially since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel.

Congress will have an opportunity to vote on each of the White House’s rescission proposals, with a simple majority in both the House of Representatives and Senate necessary to take back funding previously approved by both houses.