Holy moly. After shutting down the funding for the World Health Organization, el Presidente Trumpo then redirected that money to organizations like Samaritan’s Purse and the Red Cross! From the New York Post:
The White House budget office has told federal agencies to redirect World Health Organization funds to groups that do similar work, indicating a 60-day suspension of WHO funding ordered by President Trump will be permanent.
The funds will flow instead to outfits such as the Red Cross and Samaritan’s Purse after Trump said Tuesday the WHO needed reform after failing to vet coronavirus data from China, contributing to a pandemic that infected more than 650,000 US residents.
The US provided roughly 10 percent of the WHO’s $4.8 billion annual budget. Most US contributions were “voluntary.” Annual US dues were just $58 million, with the next installment not expected until September.
That is startling. Those are both expressly Christian organizations, and you can bet that Democrats and liberals are going to scream bloody murder about that.
In fact, Democrats are saying it’s an illegal act and they will challenge it in court:
President Donald Trump’s halt to World Health Organization funding is illegal and violates the same federal spending laws as the Ukraine aid freeze that partly prompted his impeachment, House Democrats said on Wednesday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump’s decision is “dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged,” without elaborating on what specific action might be taken.
Trump himself admitted during the coronavirus task force today that he was likely to face a fight in court over the action.
To be honest, I’m not even sure he can do that, since it is a constitutional principle that the House of Representatives is the chamber that holds the power of the purse. But, if he’s able to get this done, somehow, I will be terribly impressed.