House and Senate Republicans' Latest Infighting is Over Peacekeeping Funds

Senate and House Republicans once again face competing priorities, this time over federal funding for programs designed to maintain international peace.

Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart of Florida, chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, proposed to cut over $253 million worth of funding in the draft version of his committee's fiscal year 2024 spending bill for two peacekeeping programs.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the top Republican on the Senate subcommittee that handles the same matters, disagreed with the cuts that his "good friend" has proposed, saying they are an important tool for avoiding conflict.

"Unless you want perpetual, endless war, you better have some diplomatic tools," Graham told Newsweek. "The best way to avoid perpetual armed conflict is to keep the peace, so I find it odd that the people who talk about wanting to end perpetual war are cutting budgets that would actually prevent war."

In a statement to Newsweek, Díaz-Balart said he supports foreign aid assistance programs and stood by the cuts. He noted that his bill directs the U.S. Secretary of State and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (U.N.) to prioritize limiting U.S. assessments for peacekeeping operations to the 25 percent required by U.S. law. In 2023, the U.N. reported that U.S. assessments were at almost 27 percent.

"I support international peacekeeping operations to uphold peace and stability in regions affected by conflict," he said in his statement. "However, I believe it is important to restore fiscal sanity to the appropriations process and conduct a thorough financial review."

The two programs facing potential cuts include Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA), for which the House allocated $1.269 billion in funding—$213 million below 2023 levels — and Peacekeeping Operations (PKO), which was allocated $420.5 million— $40.3 million below what was spent in 2023.

CIPA consists of funding that the United States designates toward U.N. peacekeeping missions. A 2023 report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service states that it "funds the majority of U.N. peacekeeping operations, as well as the U.N. criminal tribunals and mission monitoring activities."

Separately, PKO funds peacekeeping operations that are not covered by the U.N. The State Department writes that this supports regional peacekeeping efforts in area where "international coalitions or neighboring countries take primary responsibility."

Graham argues that these tools are essential in wake of Russia's attack on Ukraine.

"To those who talk about war and wanting to avoid war, the best way to avoid war is to deter aggression," Graham said, "and when you see someone like Putin, trying to take the lands of others, to stand up to him."

His Democratic counterpart, Delaware Senator Chris Coons, who chairs the subcommittee, agrees, adding that he's visited peacekeeping operations carried out by the U.N. and sees them as effective and worth fighting for.

"I think U.N. peacekeepers are essential to maintaining stability in a dozen countries around the world," Coons told Newsweek. "I just talked to our U.N. ambassador. The Chinese have steadily increased their activity, their investment, their scope in the U.N. across all of its entities. If the United States wants to be a global leader, we also need to have our seat at the table and pay our dues."

The U.N. Department of Peace Operations oversees 12 peacekeeping operations, primarily in Africa and the Middle East. According to a 2022 article by U.N. News, the "majority" of U.N. peacekeeping missions succeed in their goal of "stabilizing societies and ending war." It offers 16 peer-reviewed studies and 12 examples of peacekeeping efforts spanning from 1989 to 2018 as evidence.

Despite these stated efforts, the U.N. continues to be a target of House Republicans. Some within the party believe the agency has not done enough to combat China. For that reason, House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers, a Republican representative for Alabama, introduced a bill in 2022 to end America's membership within the U.N.

When it comes to the country's ongoing funding of the agency's peacekeeping efforts, Florida's Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a China Hawk who sits on the subcommittee with Graham, said that although cuts to such programs pose challenging questions, they must be given fair consideration.

"I think the challenge we now face here is in a time of constraint, where spending is a big topic, you have to make these choices," Rubio told Newsweek. "It's not that these things are bad. It's that you have to weigh if you're paying for one thing, you can't pay for something else. What is that something else? And is it higher on the list of priorities?"