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Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 12, 2025
United Nations Voting Accountability Act of 2025
This bill prohibits giving assistance, such as various types of economic support or military training, to countries that shared U.S. positions on less than 50% of the recorded votes in the most recent United Nations session.
A country may be exempted from this prohibition if the Department of State determines that the country will no longer oppose U.S. positions due to a fundamental change in the country's leadership and policies.
People & committees
Rep. Davidson, Warren [R-OH-8] · R–OH
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Dec 6, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-12 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed United Nations Voting Accountability Act of 2025 would bar U.S. assistance to countries whose recorded United Nations votes matched the U.S. position less than half the time in the relevant session. It would cover economic and military aid and any other monetary or physical assistance. The Secretary of State could temporarily exempt a country after a fundamental change in its government’s leadership and policies, if the Secretary determines it will no longer oppose the U.S. position.
This Act may be cited as the United Nations Voting Accountability Act of 2025.
United States assistance may not be provided to a country that opposed the position of the United States in the United Nations.
were the same as the position of the United States less than 50 percent of the time
(3) the term United States assistance means assistance under— (A) chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.; relating to the economic support fund); (B) chapter 5 of part II of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2347 et seq.; relating to international military education and training); (C) the Foreign Military Financing Program account under section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763); and (D) any other monetary or physical assistance.
The Secretary of State may exempt a country from the prohibition described in subsection (a) if the Secretary determines that since the beginning of the most recent session of the General Assembly— (A) there has been a fundamental change in the leadership and policies of the government of a country to which the prohibition in such subsection applies; and (B) as a result of such change, the government of such country will no longer oppose the position of the United States in the United Nations.
An exemption under paragraph (1) shall be effective only until submission of the next report required under section 406 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 (22 U.S.C. 2414a) that is submitted after the Secretary of State makes such an exemption.
The proposed assistance ban would cover the Economic Support Fund, international military education and training, the Foreign Military Financing Program, and any other monetary or physical assistance.
United States assistance may not be provided to a country that opposed the position of the United States in the United Nations.
(3) the term United States assistance means assistance under— (A) chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.; relating to the economic support fund); (B) chapter 5 of part II of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2347 et seq.; relating to international military education and training); (C) the Foreign Military Financing Program account under section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763); and (D) any other monetary or physical assistance.
The bill would measure opposition by recorded votes matching the U.S. position less than 50 percent of the time. It would use General Assembly votes for countries generally and votes in both the General Assembly and Security Council for Security Council members, using the comparison in the required annual report to Congress.
(1) the term opposed the position of the United States means, in the case of a country, that the country’s recorded votes in the United Nations General Assembly during the most recent session of the General Assembly and, in the case of a country which is a member of the United Nations Security Council, the country’s recorded votes both in the Security Council and the General Assembly during the most recent session of the General Assembly, were the same as the position of the United States less than 50 percent of the time, using for this purpose a comparison of the recorded vote cast by each member country with the recorded vote cast by the United States, as described in the annual report submitted to Congress pursuant to section 406 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991;
The relevant voting period would be the most recently completed full General Assembly session for which the latest required report to Congress contains a comparison with U.S. votes.
(2) the term most recent session of the General Assembly means the most recently completed plenary session of the General Assembly for which a comparison of the vote cast by each member country with the vote cast by the United States is described in the most recent report submitted to Congress pursuant to section 406 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991;
The Secretary of State could grant an exemption, but would not be required to do so. The Secretary would have to determine that a fundamental change in government leadership and policies occurred since the beginning of the relevant General Assembly session and that, because of that change, the country would no longer oppose the U.S. position.
The Secretary of State may exempt a country from the prohibition described in subsection (a) if the Secretary determines that since the beginning of the most recent session of the General Assembly— (A) there has been a fundamental change in the leadership and policies of the government of a country to which the prohibition in such subsection applies; and (B) as a result of such change, the government of such country will no longer oppose the position of the United States in the United Nations.
An exemption would expire when the next required U.N. voting report is submitted after the exemption is granted.
An exemption under paragraph (1) shall be effective only until submission of the next report required under section 406 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 (22 U.S.C. 2414a) that is submitted after the Secretary of State makes such an exemption.
The Secretary of State would have to notify Congress of each exemption and explain the basis for the determination.
The Secretary of State shall notify Congress with respect to an exemption made under paragraph (1), together with a discussion of the basis for the Secretary’s determination with respect to each such exemption.
The bill would take effect when the required report due by March 31, 2026, is submitted to Congress. The proposed trigger is the report’s submission, rather than a fixed March 31 start date.
This Act shall take effect upon the date of the submission to Congress of the report required under section 406 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991, that is required to be submitted by March 31, 2026.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated December 6, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on February 12, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2025-12-06T06:42:53Z. 2025-02-12: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. 2025-02-12: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-12. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; it does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials or resolve formal earmark status beyond the supplied evidence.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential benefit was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Its generally available, conditional exemption is part of administering the central aid restriction. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Dec 6, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI