There have been various proposals for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations, where it is one of the founding members and one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
Alabama congressman Mike Rogers has called to leave the UN. Utah state representative Don Bush has claimed that many programs by the supranational entity have violated the US Constitution, such as the implementation of the International Court of Justice and the Law of the Sea Treaty, both of which the United States does not currently endorse.
Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. withdrew from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in October 2017 and June 2018 respectively. The United States also announced its intention to withdraw from the World Health Organization on July 6, 2020, effective one year later. However, the withdrawals from the WHO, the UNHRC, and UNESCO were later rescinded by Trump's successor, president Joe Biden.
History
Opposition to the United Nations and its predecessor, the League of Nations, has existed from the time of formation. At the end of World War I, isolationists in the United States were successful in blocking the U.S. Senate ratification of the Treaty of Versailles negotiated by President Woodrow Wilson and by extension U.S. participation in the League of Nations. The John Birch Society, an anti-communist group founded in 1958, was opposed to US involvement from the society's beginning. From an early date they had bumper stickers with the slogan "Get the U.S. out of the U.N. and the U.N. out of the U.S.!" Another withdrawal advocate at the time was the National Review, which once editorialized that the UN should be "liquidated".
More recently, on 27 February 2021, the Alabama Republican Party passed a resolution in support of U.S. withdrawal, citing perceived UN support for abortion, disarmament of citizens, climate control policies, and influence from socialist countries.
Public opinion
According to the polling organization Rasmussen Reports, in the year 2004 a minority of 44% of United States citizens had a favorable view of the United Nations. This number continued to decline steadily, and two years later in 2006 that number had fallen to 31%. As of 2006, 26% of Americans say "the U.S. should not be involved" with the United Nations, with a moderate majority of 57% supporting remaining a member. The 2006 poll surveyed 1,000 adults. A 2008 poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs shows that 39% find it "very important" and 21% "not important" to strengthen the U.N. In 2013, a Media and Public Opinion Research Group poll found that 38% of Americans would like less involvement with the UN. Some ranking leaders of the United Nations have suggested that the United States government has been projecting a negative image of the UN, although this allegation is denied by the US. Few observers expect the "U.S. out of U.N." movement to result in the US actually withdrawing for the foreseeable future.
Despite criticisms, the majority of Americans (88%) support active engagement in the United Nations, as evidenced by a non-partisan poll conducted after the 2016 election.
Some controversy occurred in 1992 when U.S. Army medic Michael New protested the United Nations by refusing to wear the U.N. insignia on his uniform during a United Nations Protection Force peacekeeping mission to Macedonia during the Yugoslav Wars. Michael New faced a court martial and was subsequently dishonorably discharged for his disobedience to his commanding officer; to this day he still has the belief that he was correct to refuse service under the United Nations.
Legislation
In 1997 legislation H.R.1146 was introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Congressman Ron Paul of Texas under the label "American Sovereignty Restoration Act". In addition to withdrawal, the bill also proposed expelling the United Nations Headquarters from its territory within the City of New York and no longer providing the large plurality of funds which the US contributes to the UN annually.