- The bill would immediately remove the United States from the group for the first time since its inception in 1945.
- The U.S. is the biggest financial donor of the United Nations, donating more than $18 billion in 2022
- The bill would also withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization and other U.N. conventions
WASHINGTON — A group of Republican lawmakers led by Utah. Sen. Mike Lee is pushing to remove the United States from the United Nations, arguing it is necessary to leave the international group to restore “national sovereignty and fiscal accountability.”
Lee introduced the Disengaging Entirely from the United Nations Debacle, or DEFUND, Act in the Senate on Thursday, which would immediately remove the U.S. from the group for the first time since its inception in 1945. The country’s withdrawal would be a drastic move as the U.S. is one of the U.N.’s founding members and sits as one of five permanent members on the U.N. Security Council.
“No more blank checks for the United Nations. Americans' hard-earned dollars have been funneled into initiatives that fly in the face of our values, enabling tyrants, betraying allies, and spreading bigotry,” Lee said in a statement. “With the DEFUND Act, we’re stepping away from this debacle. If we engage with the UN in the future, it will be on our terms, with the full backing of the Senate and an iron-clad escape clause.”
The DEFUND Act would specifically repeal statutes that tie the U.S. to the group, including the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 and the United Nations Headquarters Agreement Act. It would also cease “all forms of U.S. financial support” to the United Nations.
All 193 countries in the United Nations are required to make payments as part of membership rules. However, the U.S. pays the most of any other country and donated more than $18 billion to the United Nations in 2022, according to the most recent data from the Council on Foreign Relations. That’s about a quarter of how much the U.S. spends on foreign aid annually.
“The UN’s decades-old, internal rot once again raises the questions of why the United States is even still a member or why we’re wasting billions … every year on it,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who introduced the same bill in the House. “The U.N. doesn’t deserve one single dime of American taxpayer money or one bit of our support; we should defund it and leave immediately.”
As a result of the U.S. withdrawal, the bill would also provide for the removal from the World Health Organization and other U.N. conventions — something President Donald Trump has already pushed for since returning to office. Trump issued a notice of the country’s withdrawal from the WHO last month citing the organization’s “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The DEFUND Act would also revoke diplomatic immunity for any U.N. officials within the United States, according to the bill.
It’s not yet clear whether the bill will be brought to the floor for consideration or whether there is widespread support to pass. Lee’s bill in the Senate has already garnered support from Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Rick Scott, R-Fla., who both signed on as co-sponsors.
Public polling shows mixed feelings about withdrawing from the United Nations. Just over half (52%) of Americans view the U.N. favorably, according to polling from Pew Research in April 2024. That’s down from 57% of support in 2023.
Those views are largely split along party lines as Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are twice as likely to support the United Nations versus Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 71% versus 34%, according to the poll.
However, the bill stipulates that if the U.S. withdraws from the United Nations, it cannot rejoin or engage in any way unless it receives Senate approval and establishes “explicit withdrawal provisions.”