Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 21, 2025
Disengaging Entirely From the United Nations Debacle Act of 2025 or the DEFUND Act of 2025
This bill directs the President to terminate U.S. membership in the United Nations (U.N.) and all formally affiliated bodies. It also ends U.S. participation in all U.N. conventions and agreements.
Funds may be appropriated to facilitate U.S. withdrawal from the U.N. No funds may be made available for contributions or payments to any U.N. body.
The bill prohibits U.S. participation in any U.N. peacekeeping operation.
The bill also repeals diplomatic immunity for officers and employees of the U.N. and for officers and employees of foreign government missions to the U.N.
The bill repeals various acts related to the U.N., including the United Nations Participation Act of 1945, the United Nations Headquarters Agreement Act, and a joint resolution establishing U.S. membership in the World Health Organization.
The United States may not rejoin the U.N. or any formally affiliated body without the advice and consent of the Senate. Any agreement to rejoin the U.N. or a formally affiliated body must include the right of the United States to withdraw from the agreement.
Source last updated: Jan 17, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Read the proposal in plain language
AI-generated · Source-checked by AI · Nov 1, 2026
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-21 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.
What it would do
This bill would require the United States to leave the United Nations and its formally affiliated bodies. It would stop U.S. contributions, with a limited allowance for withdrawal costs, and end U.S. participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations. It would also remove specified diplomatic privileges and legal protections for U.N. personnel. Future membership agreements would require Senate consent and an express right for the United States to withdraw.
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The President shall terminate all membership by the United States in the United Nations, and in any organ, specialized agency, commission, or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations.
No funds are authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for assessed or voluntary contributions of the United States to the United Nations or to any organ, specialized agency, commission or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations, except that funds may be appropriated to facilitate termination of United States membership and withdrawal of United States personnel and equipment, in accordance with sections 2 and 3, respectively.
No officer or employee of the United Nations (including any organ, specialized agency, commission or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations) or any representative, officer, or employee of any mission to the United Nations of any foreign government shall be entitled to enjoy the privileges and immunities of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations done at Vienna April 18, 1961, nor may any such privileges and immunities be extended to any such individual.
The President may not enter into an agreement for membership in the United Nations or any organ, specialized agency, commission, or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations without the advice and consent of the Senate.
The advice and consent of the Senate to the ratification of any agreement seeking membership in the United Nations or any organ, specialized agency, commission, or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations shall be subject to a reservation, which shall be included in the instrument of ratification, that reserves the right of the United States to withdraw from such agreement.
The bill would repeal the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 and direct the President to terminate all U.S. membership in the United Nations and its formally affiliated bodies.
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The United Nations Participation Act of 1945 (Public Law 79–264; 22 U.S.C. 287 et seq.) is repealed.
The President shall terminate all membership by the United States in the United Nations, and in any organ, specialized agency, commission, or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations.
The bill would repeal the United Nations Headquarters Agreement Act and withdraw the United States from its agreement with the United Nations concerning U.N. headquarters.
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The Joint Resolution of August 4, 1947 (61 Stat. 756, chapter 482; 22 U.S.C. 287 note) (commonly known as the United Nations Headquarters Agreement Act) is repealed.
The United States withdraws from the agreement between the United States of America and the United Nations regarding the headquarters of the United Nations (signed at Lake Success, New York, on June 26, 1947, which was brought into effect by the United Nations Headquarters Agreement Act).
The bill would bar authorizing or making funds available for U.S. contributions to the United Nations and its formally affiliated bodies, whether assessed contributions—assigned dues—or voluntary payments. It would allow Congress to provide funds to end membership and withdraw U.S. personnel and equipment; that permission would not itself provide funding.
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No funds are authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for assessed or voluntary contributions of the United States to the United Nations or to any organ, specialized agency, commission or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations, except that funds may be appropriated to facilitate termination of United States membership and withdrawal of United States personnel and equipment, in accordance with sections 2 and 3, respectively.
Once U.S. membership ended, the bill would prohibit payments to the United Nations and its formally affiliated bodies even from funds Congress had already provided or other funds available for those purposes.
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Upon termination of United States membership, no payments shall be made to the United Nations or to any organ, specialized agency, commission or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations, out of any funds appropriated prior to such termination or out of any other funds available for such purposes.
The bill would prohibit the United Nations and its formally affiliated bodies from occupying or using any U.S. government property or facility.
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The United Nations (including any organ, specialized agency, commission or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations) may not occupy or use any property or facility of the United States Government.
The bill would deny diplomatic privileges and immunities—special legal protections—under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to officers and employees of the United Nations and its formally affiliated bodies. The same restriction would cover representatives, officers, and employees of foreign governments' missions to the United Nations.
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No officer or employee of the United Nations (including any organ, specialized agency, commission or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations) or any representative, officer, or employee of any mission to the United Nations of any foreign government shall be entitled to enjoy the privileges and immunities of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations done at Vienna April 18, 1961, nor may any such privileges and immunities be extended to any such individual.
The bill would also make privileges, exemptions, and immunities under the International Organizations Immunities Act and U.S. agreements or treaties inapplicable to the United Nations, its formally affiliated bodies, and their officers and employees. This removal would extend to those personnel's families, accompanying staff, and servants.
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The privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided for in the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288 et seq.), or in any agreement or treaty to which the United States is a party, including the Agreement Between the United Nations and the United States of America Regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, done at New York February 13, 1946, and entered into force with respect to the United States on April 29, 1970, shall not apply to the United Nations or to any organ, specialized agency, commission or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations, to the officers and employees of the United Nations, or of any organ, specialized agency, commission or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations, or to the families, suites, or servants of such officers or employees.
The bill would repeal the 1948 joint resolution providing for U.S. membership and participation in the World Health Organization and authorizing funding for that purpose.
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The joint resolution entitled Joint Resolution providing for membership and participation by the United States in the World Health Organization and authorizing an appropriation therefor, approved June 14, 1948 (22 U.S.C. 290), is repealed.
The bill would require the United States to end participation in all conventions and agreements with the United Nations and its formally affiliated bodies. It would also prohibit carrying out any remaining functions of those conventions and agreements.
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The United States shall end any participation in any conventions and agreements with the United Nations and any organ, specialized agency, commission, or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations. Any remaining functions of such conventions and agreements shall not be carried out.
The bill would condition future membership agreements on Senate advice and consent. Senate approval would have to require a reservation—an express condition included in the formal ratification document—preserving the United States' right to withdraw. These conditions would cover the United Nations and its formally affiliated bodies.
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The President may not enter into an agreement for membership in the United Nations or any organ, specialized agency, commission, or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations without the advice and consent of the Senate.
The advice and consent of the Senate to the ratification of any agreement seeking membership in the United Nations or any organ, specialized agency, commission, or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations shall be subject to a reservation, which shall be included in the instrument of ratification, that reserves the right of the United States to withdraw from such agreement.
The bill would require the Secretary of State to notify the United Nations and its formally affiliated bodies of the bill's provisions.
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The Secretary of State shall notify the United Nations and any organ, specialized agency, commission, or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations of the provisions of this Act.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated January 17, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on February 21, 2025.
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Source snapshot updated 2026-01-17T01:30:54Z.
2025-02-21: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
2025-02-21: Introduced in House
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-21. 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 rider attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion 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 congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish formal earmark status or absence in accompanying materials.
Other targeted benefits
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential benefit, special exemption, or carve-out warranting a finding was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not extend to other versions or accompanying materials.
What this analysis cannot establish
This analysis concerns the complete introduced text dated February 21, 2025. The supplied actions snapshot does not establish later legislative action or enactment. Its silence does not prove that the bill never advanced or became law.
The laws, treaties, and agreements referenced for repeal or withdrawal are not reproduced. Their full existing requirements, protections, and withdrawal procedures cannot be determined from this bundle.
The bill supplies no express effective date or deadline for completing withdrawal, closing the U.S. mission, or giving notice. It ties the prohibition on payments from previously provided funds to termination of membership, but does not specify when that termination would occur.
The bundle contains no member earmark disclosures, committee reports, conference materials, or amendment attachment history. The riders and benefits review is limited to the supplied introduced text.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Jan 17, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI