TRUMP FORMALIZES US WITHDRAWAL FROM WHO

The Trump administration has notified Congress and the United Nations (UN) that the US is formally withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO), officials tell CNN, a move that comes amid a rising number of coronavirus cases throughout the Americas over the past week.

The withdrawal, which goes into effect in July 2021, has drawn criticism from bipartisan lawmakers, medical associations, advocacy organizations and allies abroad. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden vowed Tuesday to reverse the decision "on (his) first day" if elected, Zachary Cohen, Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood, Vivian Salama and Sara Murray wrote for CNN on July 8, 2020.

Sen. Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee tweeted the news Tuesday. "Congress received notification that POTUS officially withdrew the US from the ⁦‪@WHO⁩in the midst of a pandemic. To call Trump's response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn't do it justice. This won't protect American lives or interests—it leaves Americans sick & America alone," he wrote.

A State Department official also confirmed that "the US' notice of withdrawal, effective July 6, 2021, has been submitted to the UN Secretary-General, who is the depository for the WHO." The spokesperson for Secretary-General António Guterres said he had received the notice and "is in the process of verifying with the WHO whether all the conditions for such withdrawal are met." Those conditions "include giving a one-year notice and fully meeting the payment of assessed financial obligations."