The United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, announced this week that the United States has negotiated a $285 million dollar cut towards the UN budget.
The move has been well received by conservatives, evangelicals, and Republicans.
Pro life groups that have long been critical of the United Nation’s stance on abortion celebrated the budget cuts. Many pro life groups and even nations have attacked the United Nations for aggressively pushing abortion on other countries. According to Lifenews, “Ireland, Malta, Poland, and many other nations that have pro-life laws protecting unborn children have seen the United Nations accuse those nations of not respecting women or their health even though Women’s Health has benefited when pro-life laws are in place.”
Those who are friends of Israel also praised the budget reduction. The budget cuts were announced shortly after the UN held a meeting discussing Trump’s decision to honor Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and move the United States Embassy from Washington, D.C. to Jerusalem. During the course of those meetings, more than 100 countries voted to condemn the United State’s for officially recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Only eight counties sided with the United States. Following the meetings, Nikki Haley warned the United Nations, that the United States does not pay them money to be disrespected. On the 24th of December, Nikki Haley announced the huge cuts to the UN biennial operating budget, calling it, “a big step in the right direction.”
It should be noted that cuts to the UN budget are typical. Countries who pay the majority of the funding routinely push for cuts to the operating budget. It is unclear whether the $285 reduction in the operating budget is due to the fact that the United States is cutting $285 million in funding from the United States to the United Nations or if it is a $285 million cut of the overall operating budget due to reduced funds from multiple countries. The exact amount that the United States will direct towards funding for the new operating budget is unclear. According to NPR, the total U.N. budget for 2018-2019 is $5.396 billion. The New York Times reports that, “under an article of the United Nations Charter, the United States is [currently] responsible for 22 percent of the United Nations operating budget, the largest contribution.”
Haley’s budget cut announcements came days after she slammed the United Nations for singling out the United States and condemning them with a resolution.
“The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out in this assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation,” Haley told member nations prior to their vote on the resolution. “We will remember it when, once again, we are called up to make the world’s largest contribution to the UN, and we will remember it when many countries come calling on us to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.”
