U.S. UN Ambassador Calls for NATO-style Overhaul of United Nations Funding and Staff
U.S. UN ambassador Mike Waltz announced a sweeping plan to cut UN personnel, reduce peacekeeping, and defund UNRWA over alleged Hamas links.
Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, outlined a comprehensive reform agenda aimed at making the UN leaner and more accountable. The plan includes cutting 3,000 bureaucrats from the New York headquarters, slashing a quarter of the organization’s 90,000 peacekeepers, and ending U.S. contributions to UNRWA after a USAID audit linked dozens of its employees to the Oct. 7 Hamas assault. Waltz argued that the changes mirror President Trump’s push for NATO allies to shoulder more of the cost.
He also warned that the current UN bureaucracy diverts American aid away from disaster victims in places like Venezuela. House Oversight Chairman James Comer echoed the call for deeper cuts, adding that the administration has already reduced the federal workforce by 350,000 since Trump’s second term began. Former USAID Inspector General Jonathan Schofield said his office is now conducting field investigations to root out fraud in foreign assistance.
Why it matters
The reforms could reshape how billions of U.S. aid dollars are allocated to the UN and its agencies.
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