Several conservative congressmen have introduced legislation to end all U.S. funding for the World Economic Forum (WEF).
H.R. 7047, titled the “Defund Davos Act,” is sponsored by U.S. Representative Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and currently co-sponsored by 10 other representatives: Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.), Greg Steube (R-Fla.), Bill Posey (R-Fla.), Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), and Elijah Crane (R-Ariz.).
The Defund Davos Act is short and concise. It declares:
No funds available to the Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development, or any other department or agency may be used to provide funding for the World Economic Forum.
In a press release announcing the legislation, Rep. Perry declared, “Forcing American Taxpayers to fund annual ski trips for insular, global elitists is absurd — not to mention reprehensible. The World Economic Forum doesn’t deserve one cent of American funding, and it’s past time we defund Davos.”
Rep. Tiffany agreed, stating, “The wealthy WEF globalists should not receive Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars. The Defund Davos Act would ensure that U.S. tax dollars are not funding the World Economic Forum and their reset on our way of life. I thank Congressman Perry for leading this important effort.”
It has long been known that the WEF promotes policies that are antithetical to the American form of government.
The WEF has promoted multiple pro-collectivist and environmentalist policies, ranging from mandating electric cars to eating bugs instead of meat. The organization’s leadership has also expressed support for the Chinese Communist Party.
As described by Rep. Perry’s office, the WEF wants Americans to “always operate based on what’s good for the ‘global public’ even when it comes at a detriment to their own lives.” This mirrors the WEF’s own advocacy of a future in which “you’ll own nothing and be happy,” violating the Americanist principles of life, liberty, and property.
Despite this, the United States has given tens of millions of dollars to the WEF in recent years. For example, in 2015, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) gave the WEF a $50 million grant, and in 2023 alone, the organization received $9.1 million in U.S. aid. The Defund Davos Act would end such aid.
Ultimately, all foreign aid is unconstitutional, as it is not one of the enumerated powers delegated to Congress in Article 1, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution. The federal government’s powers are “few and defined,” as James Madison wrote in The Federalist, No. 45, and it cannot lawfully take any action not expressly authorized in the Constitution — including doling out foreign aid, especially for purposes antithetical to the U.S. Constitution and American values.
Congress would be wise to follow the U.S. Constitution, prioritize American national interests, and defend foundational American principles by enacting the Defund Davos Act.
To urge your U.S. representative and senators to support H.R. 7047, the Defund Davos Act, visit The John Birch Society’s legislative alert here.
