(Image source from: thecitizen.co.tz)
Risks of impeachment have been looming over President Donald Trump’s head for quite some time now. The sudden withdrawal of the WHO funding from U.S was another bold move that is likely going to impact Trump’s stay in the White House, if reports are to be considered.
This move has set up for another legal tug with the House Democrats who have been wary of him during this moment where the world is fighting a global pandemic.
While Trump has been experienced extreme backlash over his decision to stop funding WHO during this time of crisis, with United States leading the charts in the world, Trump called out criticising the United Nations for its inability and “role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus”.
Trump clarified that he asked his administration to halt the funding for a period of 60-90 days while the review is being conducted.
House Democrats opposed to this decision saying that the sudden stop of the funding to WHO will end up affecting the global response to this deadly coronavirus disease. They also highlighted stating that Trump doesn’t have the power to retract the money that has already been sanctioned by Congress under its constitutional authority.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated saying, “This decision is dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged.”
The party also raised a spectre to the decision made by the White House to withhold the congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine that Trump urged the country to further investigate Joe Biden, who is currently his opponent in the Democratic presidential campaign. This led to the House impeaching Trump.
“In a desperate attempt to deflect blame, President Trump is violating the same spending laws that brought about his impeachment. The President does not have the unilateral authority to withhold the United States’ assessed contribution to the World Health Organization,” said Evan Hollander who is the House Appropriations Committee spokesman.
Congress has already allocated $122 million for WHO for the fiscal year of 2020. Aside from that, the organisation also receives aids and contributions from states and the private organisations to keep functioning.
The White House, under the Trump administration was going to cut the sanctioned $122 million to half in the fiscal year of 2021 but it is Congress who has the final say on it.
The White House is also going to be making use of broad interpretation of law arguing Trump with his decision of halting the funding to WHO.
WHO is a global organisation that works to expand healthcare services and help the countries prepare themselves in times of emergency. Losing the American funding would gravely impacts the organisation which accounts for around 15% of the overall budget that the organisation receives.
With the decision in place, the Trump administration has been experiencing backlash and constant criticism as they fail to ramp up the testing process in the country. Trump’s decision comes from the precinct of thinking that the organisation has been biased towards China which is why he wanted to conduct a review before sanctioning further aid.
By Somapika Dutta
