Under what domestic legal framework did Trump withdraw the US from UNESCO?
Regarding the 2017 withdrawal from UNESCO:
CRS INSIGHT, U.S. Withdrawal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), October 17, 2017
On October 12, 2017, the State Department announced that the United States will withdraw from the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The department stated that the decision "reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears ... the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias of UNESCO." The United States seeks to "remain engaged" as a nonmember observer. Generally, observers have participated in selected UNESCO meetings and activities but are not able to vote in some UNESCO bodies or hold leadership positions. Under the terms of the UNESCO constitution, the U.S. withdrawal is expected to take effect on December 31, 2018.
UNESCO Constitution
Article II, Membership
- Any Member State or Associate Member of the Organization may withdraw from the Organization by notice addressed to the Director-General. Such notice shall take effect on 31 December of the year following that during which the notice was given. No such withdrawal shall affect the financial obligations owed to the Organization on the date the withdrawal takes effect. Notice of withdrawal by an Associate Member shall be given on its behalf by the Member State or other authority having responsibility for its international relations.
In the absence of a specific clause requiring Congressional approval (I found none), the president's decision to withdraw stands. The court has even refused to get involved with termination of a treaty.
In Goldwater v. Carter, 444 U.S. 996 (1979), a few members of Congress objected to President Carter's termination of a treaty with Taiwan.
The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is vacated and the case is remanded to the District Court with directions to dismiss the complaint.
MR. JUSTICE POWELL, concurring.
In this case, a few Members of Congress claim that the President's action in terminating the treaty with Taiwan has deprived them of their constitutional role with respect to a change in the supreme law of the land. Congress has taken no official action. In the present posture of this case, we do not know whether there ever will be an actual confrontation between the Legislative and Executive Branches. Although the Senate has considered a resolution declaring that Senate approval is necessary for the termination of any mutual defense treaty, see 125 Cong.Rec. S7015, S7038-S7039 (June 6, 1979), no final vote has been taken on the resolution. See id. at S16683-S16692 (Nov. 15, 1979). Moreover, it is unclear whether the resolution would have retroactive effect. See id. at S7054-S7064 (June 6, 1979); id. at S7862 (June 18, 1979). It cannot be said that either the Senate or the House has rejected the President's claim. If the Congress chooses not to confront the President, it is not our task to do so. I therefore concur in the dismissal of this case.
MR. JUSTICE REHNQUIST suggests, however, that the issue presented by this case is a nonjusticiable political question which can never be considered by this Court.
Concerning withholding of funds to UNESCO, see Section 414 of P.L. 101-246 FEB. 16, 1990 (full text of the section given later):
(a) PROHIBITION.— No funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or any other Act shall be available for the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof which accords the Palestine Liberation Organization the same standing as member states.
There are three laws regarding the withholding of US funds as related to Palestine, and noted by CRS. I have provided the text of the laws below.
Congressional Research Service, U.S. Funding to the United Nations System: Overview and Selected Policy Issues, Updated April 25, 2018, Table 5, p. 18.
Activities Related to the Palestinians. Since the 1980s, the United States has withheld a proportionate share of assessed contributions to the U.N. regular budget for selected activities or programs related to the Palestinians (Section 114 of P.L. 98-164). This provision has impacted U.N. regular budget funding through the CIO account.
Palestinian Membership. Two laws enacted in the 1990s prohibit funding to U.N. entities that admit the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as a member, or grant full membership as a state to any group that does not have the internationally recognized attributes of statehood (Section 414 of P.L. 101-246; Section 410 of P.L. 103-236). This provision has impacted UNESCO funding through the CIO and IO&P accounts.
Section 114 of P.L. 98-164 NOV. 22, 1983 (partial text)
RESTRICTIONS RELATING TO THE PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION AND THE SOUTH WEST AFRICA PEOPLE'S ORGANIZATION
SEC. 114. (a) Funds appropriated for any fiscal year for the Department of State for "International Organizations and Conferences" may not be used for payment by the United States, as its contribution toward the assessed budget of the United Nations for any year, of any amount which would cause the total amount paid by the United States as its assessed contribution for that year to exceed the amount assessed as the United States contribution for that year less—
(1) 25 per centum of the amount budgeted for that year for the Committee on the Exercise for the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (or any similar successor entity); and
(2) 25 per centum of the amount budgeted for that year for the Special Unit on Palestinian Rights (or any similar successor entity); and
(3) 25 per centum of the amount budgeted for that year for projects whose primary purpose is to provide benefits to the Palestine Liberation Organization or entities associated with it or to the South West Africa People's Organization.
Section 414 of P.L. 101-246 FEB. 16, 1990
SEC. 414. MEMBERSHIP OF THE PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION IN UNITED NATIONS AGENCIES.
(a) PROHIBITION.— No funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or any other Act shall be available for the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof which accords the Palestine Liberation Organization the same standing as member states.
(b) TRANSFER OR REPROGRAMMING.—Funds subject to the prohibition contained in subsection (a) which would be available for the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof (but for that prohibition) are authorized to remain available until expended and may be reprogrammed or transferred to any other account of the Department of State or the Agency for International Development to carry out the general purposes for which such funds were authorized.
Section 410 of P.L. 103-236 APR. 30, 1994
SEC 410. LIMITATION ON CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UNITED NATIONS AND AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS.
The United States shall not make any voluntary or assessed contribution—
(1) to any affiliated organization of the United Nations which grants full membership as a state to any organization or group that does not have the internationally recognized attributes of statehood, or
(2) to the United Nations, if the United Nations grants full membership as a state in the United Nations to any organization or group that does not have the internationally recognized attributes of statehood, during any period in which such membership is effective.
