US seeks $1 billion UN budget cut, 4,000 posts
United Nations: The United States is pressing for a reduction of more than $1 billion in the United Nations budget and has identified 4,000 positions that could be cut, a State Department spokesman said.
Luke Ortega, deputy spokesman for the department, said the changes were part of the Trump administration’s effort to narrow the UN’s work and put peace and prosperity at its centre. He said the drive had already saved US taxpayers more than $260 million a year. He did not give a breakdown of those savings.
“This is a top priority for the United States to get the United Nations back to basics, back to its real core responsibilities, to have the United Nations doing less, and to be doing it better,” Ortega told IANS in an exclusive interview.
He described the proposed budget and staffing changes as work in progress. His figures concerned positions that could be cut, rather than a confirmed number of job losses.
Ortega said Washington wanted the organisation to focus on peace, prosperity and respect for the sovereignty of nations. It was working on both the budget and the UN’s size to move it in that direction, he said.
“We’ve seen over the past six months or so a move to reduce the budget of the United Nations by more than a billion dollars to identify 4,000 bureaucratic positions with the organization that could be cut,” he said.
He credited US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz with helping advance the effort. The work was continuing, Ortega said, with the aim of making the organisation better able to carry out what Washington sees as its core responsibilities.
The administration’s concern went beyond spending. Asked about structural reform, Ortega said the first question was which tasks belonged at the UN and which did not.
“For us, that’s really the most critical element when we talk about reforming the United Nations is what should it be doing and what shouldn’t it be doing?” he said.
Ortega pointed to President Donald Trump’s criticism of an International Maritime Organization proposal concerning global shipping. He said Washington opposed decisions by international bodies that could impose costs on the public without being made by elected officials.
He also argued that the UN should have a stronger role in settling conflicts. Ortega credited Trump with helping bring about settlements and said Washington wanted international organisations to be more effective in such work.
The United States would continue to act when those bodies could not, he said. “We will continue to defend our national interests and really also bring about peace and opportunity for many people around the world.”
Ortega said Washington was encouraging other countries to examine whether international institutions were serving their members’ interests. He mentioned the International Criminal Court among the bodies that merited scrutiny, while saying the United States would also judge its own engagement by whether it served US interests.