Last Thursday, the US House of Representatives passed its annual State Department and Foreign Operations spending bill, which determines the budget for the State Department and its foreign operations. The legislation allocates funds to agencies and programs to strengthen national security and support US allies, particularly against the Chinese Communist Party.

Corporate media highlighted aid for Ukraine that is included in the bill.  But there are some other interesting points to note. 

Most interestingly, it includes prohibiting funds to several United Nations agencies, the World Health Organisation, the World Economic Forum, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, EcoHealth Alliance, any gain-of-function research, and multilateral assistance to World Bank-administered climate change funds. 

The bill also cuts off funding and so eliminates 33 Special Envoys and Special Representatives, including doomsday climate cultist John Kerry.

The appropriations bill has a top line of $51.5 billion for programs included under the bill, roughly a 14% cut ($8.2 billion) compared to last year’s levels and 25% below ($17.4 billion) what President Joe Biden requested in his budget proposal.

You can read a summary of the bill, before the adoption of amendments, HERE.  Below we have selected some of the highlights using the summary’s section titles as subtitles for ease of reference.

Top Line Messaging

• Prohibiting funds to the United Nations Population Fund (“UNFPA”).
• Banning “disinformation” and “misinformation” programs that violate the free speech rights of American citizens.
• Increasing accountability at the UN and other multilateral organisations, including by requiring written agreements for Inspectors General oversight access.
• Eliminating counterproductive climate programs that harm energy security and economic development in underdeveloped countries, which leaves them even more dependent on United States aid and more vulnerable to the malign activities of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) and Russia.

Cuts to Wasteful Spending

Eliminates funding for the UN’s regular budget, resulting in savings of $707 million.

Prohibits funds for other controversial organisations and programs, such as UNFPA, the WHO, and the Gender Equity and Equality Action Fund.

Note: At COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, the US Agency for International Development (“USAID”) announced a suite of programmes to advance gender-responsive climate action.  In a press statement, USAID said it had dedicated $21.8 million to “gender-responsive climate action” from the Gender Equity and Equality Action Fund. This included funding for organisations working in over 37 countries to address gender-based violence connected to climate.

Terminates more than 18 programs, including the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (“OECD”), UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (“UNESCO”), UN Women, UN Montreal Protocol, UN Environment Fund and World Economic Forum.

Prohibits funding for Special Envoys, Special Representatives, Special Coordinators and Special Advisors unless such positions are expressly authorised or have affirmatively received the advice and consent of the Senate. This change eliminates 33 Special Envoys and Special Representatives at the Department of State, including the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, Special Envoy for Racial Equity and Justice, Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons, Special Envoy for International Labour Affairs, and  Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs.

Prohibits funds for the Green Climate Fund, Clean Technology Fund, and a soon-to-be established fund for climate damages.

Note: The bill provides for payments to international financial institutions for aid to other countries under multilateral assistance.  However, no payments are to be made to international organisations and programmes which provide voluntary contributions to several United Nations agencies.  Additionally, the bill states that no funds are to be given towards the Green Climate Fund (“GCF”) or the Clean Technology Fund (“CTF”).

The GCF is the world’s largest climate fund that “accelerates transformative climate action in developing countries.” Created by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”), it was established at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2010 and receives guidance from the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP). GCF funds are administered by the World Bank.

GCF is one of the partners of the CTF.  The CTF is one of two funds under the Climate Investment Funds (“CIF”) framework. CIF was established in 2008 at the request of the G8 and G20 and the World Bank is the trustee of the funds.  CTF funds are channelled through the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank Group. It promotes scaled-up financing for demonstration, deployment and transfer of low-carbon technologies.

Prohibits the Treasury Department from carrying out the Biden Administration’s climate agenda at the World Bank and other multilateral development banks, which harms developing countries and opens the door to predatory financing from the PRC.

Prohibits the Administration’s current practice of co-opting programming, such as that to empower women; advance democracy and freedom; or counter trafficking in persons, to advance its radical global climate change agenda.

Prohibits funds to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the EcoHealth Alliance, any gain-of-function research, and labs in adversarial nations like China, Iran, Russia, North Korea, or Cuba.

Eliminates Waste and Abuse in the Government

Requires a Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) study on climate funding during the Biden Administration to demonstrate it has had no measurable impact on temperatures and merely wasted taxpayer funds.