EXCLUSIVE — House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) is calling for Congress to cut off funding for the World Health Organization, citing China’s ties to the WHO and handling of the pandemic.
Emmer, joined by Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN), sent a letter to the House Appropriations State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee on Friday asking that no U.S. taxpayer funds be provided to the WHO in fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills.
Central to their argument is that during the pandemic, the WHO helped China “cover-up” COVID-19 and failed to hold Beijing accountable, among other accusations. The lawmakers also say that the U.S. has been paying more than its fair share to fund the WHO.
“The World Health Organization covered up the Chinese Communist Party’s role in developing and spreading COVID-19 and has since failed to hold them accountable for the global pandemic that killed millions, upended our daily lives, and destroyed thousands of small businesses,” Emmer told the Washington Examiner.
“American taxpayers should not be forced to foot the bill for the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda operation,” he added.
In the letter, the lawmakers note that between 2020 and 2021, the U.S. contributed $700 million to the WHO, with 65% of that funding being voluntary. Despite that, China had veto power over WHO proposals, they said.
“Their misinformation and propaganda about the COVID-19 pandemic spread into the WHO’s official, and public statements,” the letter reads. “It is unacceptable the United States is footing the bill for the WHO while the WHO is pandering to the Communist Party of China. Given the Chinese influence over the WHO, it’s clear that it is time to defund the WHO.”
The WHO has been under the microscope since the start of the pandemic and has faced major criticism from Republicans and scrutiny from both political parties.
The letter comes at what may be an opportune time to generate bipartisan support for divesting from WHO or decreasing U.S. contributions to the organization.
A bipartisan panel from the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday scrutinized Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, for his work in virus research in Wuhan, China, the source of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Daszak’s National Institutes of Health grant for research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology was paused in early 2020 as officials suspected the possibility that a lab-leak incident may have sparked the pandemic.
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Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) has been a leading voice in calls for reforming the WHO, especially to prevent undue political influence over what he says should be an impartial body.
“I want to see some ideas of how we can make the WHO more independent, totally free from political influence,” Wenstrup told the Washington Examiner last year, prior to a committee hearing on the role of the WHO in the debate on COVID-19 origins.
Gabrielle M. Etzel contributed to this report.