Washington - The US House of
Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee launched an
investigation on Monday of President Donald Trump's blocking of
funds for the World Health Organization, giving the State
Department a week to provide information about the decision as
the world faces the coronavirus pandemic.
Democratic Representative Eliot Engel, the committee's
chairman, said the UN health agency is "imperfect" and that he
would support reforms. "But, certainly, cutting the WHO’s
funding while the world confronts the Covid-19 tragedy is not
the answer," he said in a letter to Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo.
Covid-19 is the illness caused by the coronavirus.
In the letter, Engel asked the State Department to provide
11 sets of documents or other information related to the
decision to withhold funding no later than 5 p.m. on May 4.
If it does not do so, Engel said the committee would
consider all measures at its disposal. A spokesman declined to
provide specifics. Engel has the authority as a committee
chairman to issue subpoenas to federal agencies.
The requested materials included a list of interagency
meetings between Dec. 1 and April 14 at which funding for the
WHO was discussed, a list of legal authorities under which the
administration will execute the suspension of funds and
documents related to the administration's investigation of the
WHO.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
Trump suspended U.S. contributions to the WHO on April 14,
accusing it of being "China-centric and promoting China's
"disinformation" about the coronavirus outbreak and saying his
administration would launch a review of the organization.
WHO officials have denied the claims and China insists it
has been transparent and open. The United States is the WHO's
biggest donor.
Trump's decision prompted immediate criticism from U.S.
allies abroad, and within the United States, from health experts
and Democrats.
Some Democrats accused the Republican president of using the
WHO and China as scapegoats to distract from what they view as
Trump's mishandling of a pandemic that has killed nearly 55,000
Americans and cratered the U.S. economy.
But Trump's fellow Republicans have largely backed the
president, praising his handling of the health crisis and
calling on WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to
resign.