House Appropriators Suggest Ending ILAB; WTO Support May Be Saved
The House Appropriations Committee released a summary of its plans for several agencies on Sept. 1, and said it intends to eliminate funding for the Bureau of International Labor Affairs. That bureau, commonly known as ILAB, prepares the annual report on products made with the worst forms of child labor and forced labor. It also has an app to help companies called "SourceRight."
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If both chambers of Congress were to agree with the House Republican view on ILAB, the bureau wouldn't be funded in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
In other funding news, the administration seems to have backed away from its plan to defund the World Trade Organization, announced on Aug. 29.
In a statement published that day, and captured by the Wayback Machine, the White House said it would pull $29 million for "the toothless World Trade Organization (WTO), which has for decades aided and abetted global trade cheating by the Chinese Communist party." This was money that was supposed to be spent in the current fiscal year, but had been held back by the administration unofficially. The announcement was that the administration wouldn't spend the money this month.
The administration isn't allowed to not spend money appropriated by Congress, but can temporarily hold back money for 45 days if it has asked for a vote in Congress to cut previously authorized spending, while it waits for that vote. Because the end of the fiscal year is less than 45 days away, this is a way to avoid congressional input and still cut the spending.
However, the current version of the announcement has been edited, and no longer mentions the WTO.