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Capitol Hill Spars Over Trump WHO Funding Cut

Katherine Gypson

   WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats condemned U.S. President Donald
   Trump's announcement he would halt funding to the World Health
   Organization (WHO) based on his belief the international organization
   failed to hold China accountable for the coronavirus crisis.
   "This decision is dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged,"
   House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Wednesday.
   Pelosi and other Democrats have warned that defunding the United
   Nations agency responsible for international public health will cripple
   the international coordination necessary to combat the global pandemic.
   Senator Patrick Leahy, the Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations
   Committee, likened the move to "cutting off ammunition as the enemy
   closes in." Leahy said the president's criticism of WHO was an effort
   to distract from his own decision-making process as the virus spread
   across the world.
   Trump charged that WHO was slow in recognizing the gravity of the
   pandemic and "pushed China's misinformation" about the virus.

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