Daines, Cotton call on Biden to withdraw US from WHO due to 'abysmal lack of competence' during COVID-19

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EXCLUSIVE: Two Republican senators are calling on President Biden to remove the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO) over the agency's "abysmal lack of competence" throughout the coronavirus pandemic. 

Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., sent a letter, exclusively reviewed by Fox News Digital, to Biden Friday stating that the U.S. must leave the "corrupt and inept" organization, due to the agency's failures during the coronavirus pandemic. WHO is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health.

The senators take issue with the Biden administration's plan to support amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) from Jan. 18, which they say would increase the WHO's power at the expense of the U.S. and its allies.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the nomination of Xavier Becerra to be Secretary of Health and Human Services on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. (Michael Reynolds/Pool via AP)

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"The WHO has demonstrated an abysmal lack of competence throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which has destroyed the organization’s credibility and undermined the public’s confidence in it," write the senators.

They cite the organization's false claim in January 2020 that the COVID-19 virus was not spread by human-to-human transmission and the WHO director general's praise of China's handling of the pandemic. 

"The WHO severely mismanaged the pandemic, failed to get public health information to the world, and willingly promoted misinformation that helped Communist China cover up its responsibility for a global pandemic," the letter states.

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Daines and Cotton ask the president to remove the U.S. from the "corrupt organization" and also withdraw proposed amendments to the IHR.

The senators conclude, "We are deeply troubled by these proposed policies that threaten to erode America’s sovereign power to address public health emergencies as we see fit. The WHO cannot be trusted to properly exercise its current powers; it absolutely cannot be trusted with more power."

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus gives a press conference on December 20, 2021 at the WHO headquarters in Geneva. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

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The White House did not provide a response to Fox News Digital's request for comment on the letter, but a source familiar said the administration "believes in science."

"The WHO is an important body to coordinate global health activities and provide evidence-based guidance on the world’s health crisis. Would also note that the United States is in a stronger, more effective position to advance WHO reforms that would create global health equity while also protecting the homeland if we have a seat at the table," the source said. 

The WHO has come under fire from members of Congress over the last two years. Lawmakers have called the organization a "puppet" for the Chinese Communist Party and have accused WHO of working to conceal COVID-19 origins. 

Last month, House Republicans dug in on their investigation of COVID-19 origins with a new round of letters seeking transparency and accountability from the Biden administration and scientists.