Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) introduced a bill on Tuesday that directs the State Department to work with U.S. allies to dismantle and replace the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.

The “Replace UNRWA with Real Humanitarian Assistance Act” would give the secretary of state 180 days to submit a “comprehensive strategy, coordinated with international partners and allies,” to dismantle UNRWA, including a detailed timeline for the wind-down, identification of governmental or non-governmental entities responsible for taking over UNRWA’s portfolio, a funding plan and a transition plan.

The secretary would be required to begin implementing the plan within a year of submitting the strategy.

The legislation also demands oversight, accountability and neutrality mechanisms. 

The bill requires that “no interruption of critical humanitarian services occurs” during the transition period.

“UNRWA has repeatedly failed to meet the basic standards of accountability and neutrality that the international community should expect from any humanitarian organization,” Lawler said in a statement. “Humanitarian aid must reach those who need it, not strengthen organizations that undermine peace and security. This legislation provides a responsible path to replace UNRWA with trustworthy partners while ensuring critical humanitarian assistance continues uninterrupted.”

Groups including AIPAC, the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, Christians United for Israel and FDD Action are supporting the bill.

“UNRWA is a deeply compromised organization that is beyond any capability for reform. It’s time for the U.S. to implement a serious plan to eliminate and replace UNRWA once and for all,” AIPAC said in a statement.

Matt Kenney, JINSA’s vice president of government affairs, said that UNRWA “has forfeited any claim to serve as a credible humanitarian partner in the Middle East,” citing the organization’s ties to terrorism. UNRWA employees were found to have participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and otherwise have ties to the terror organization.

“UNRWA does not resettle refugees; UNRWA recruits refugees. How an organization continues to exist for over half a century, despite receiving billions of dollars from the American taxpayer, yet has not managed to resettle one single refugee is beyond me,” CUFI Action Fund Chairwoman Sandra Hagee Parker said in a statement. She called UNRWA an “institutional failure.”

Republicans in both chambers of Congress are urging the Trump administration to move to permanently dismantle the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, with a new letter from House Republicans calling for a reworking of Palestinian refugee programs in the region.

In a letter sent to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, more than 90 House Republicans, led by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), called for a “broader view of the agency’s operations — not only in Gaza, but across the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria” and for the administration to ensure that the U.S. does not “continue to rely on failed systems that have further entrenched the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

The U.S. stopped funding UNRWA in early 2024, after revelations that several UNRWA employees participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, and Congress has continued to impose statutory bans on such funding since then, in spite of efforts by Democrats to reinstate funding for the aid agency.

“Ultimately, UNRWA has not been a force for stability but has instead perpetuated the refugee crisis and reinforced the conditions that have allowed terrorism to persist,” the lawmakers wrote. “We strongly urge your administration to take decisive action to fully dismantle UNRWA and transition its functions to more credible and trusted partners that are demonstrably free of ties to terrorism and committed to transparency, accountability, and peace.”

The letter suggests transferring funding for Palestinian refugee programs to their host countries directly or to other non-governmental organizations.

The letter states that UNRWA has “perpetuated and expanded” the Palestinian refugee crisis by conferring heritable refugee status across generations, “transforming what was once a finite humanitarian issue into a permanent and growing political challenge.”

The lawmakers also argued that in serving as the primary provider of public services in several countries and territories, UNRWA has “has reduced incentives for host governments to pursue long-term solutions, leaving millions dependent on the agency and prolonging the refugee crisis.”

And it raises concerns about the role that UNRWA educational curricula may have played in radicalizing young Palestinians.

The House letter follows a similar letter last week led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) with two dozen other Senate Republicans which also calls for dismantling UNRWA both in Gaza and throughout the region.

The letter highlights that UNRWA employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks and that 10% of UNRWA’s employees in Gaza have been found to have ties to terrorist groups. It also notes that Hamas has diverted UNRWA’s supplies and repeatedly used the agency’s facilities for terror purposes.

The letter urges the administration to eliminate UNRWA from the U.N. budget.

“Any aid organization in Gaza or otherwise must be demonstrably free of ties to terrorism and committed to transparency, accountability, and peace,” the senators wrote. “We must ensure this failed system doesn’t continue reinforcing the conditions that have fueled terrorism from generations.”

Democratic members of the House Appropriations Committee criticized Republican-led efforts to dismantle the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the House’s draft 2026 budget bill for the State Department and other foreign programs.

The exchanges underscore the continued support among some prominent Democrats for restoring the U.S. relationship with the scandal-plagued UNRWA, more than a year after U.S. aid to the group was first halted following allegations that UNRWA staff participated in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel. The budget bill includes a continued ban on aid to the agency and calls on the State Department to put together a plan to replace it.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the top Democrat on the committee, pushed for the restoration of support to UNRWA.

“The bill scapegoats our international partners, U.N. agencies and NGOs that deliver life saving aid to the most vulnerable people around the globe,” DeLauro said. “Organizations like UNRWA will be destroyed, leaving children and families in Gaza and other places around the world to starve and to die.”

DeLauro also pushed back on provisions in the bill that would withhold funding from the U.N. Secretariat until the U.N. and U.S. government take certain steps to pursue accountability for UNRWA members involved in the Oct. 7 attacks.

“I do not believe the language matches the intent,” she argued. “The provision is overly broad. It penalizes important U.N. entities until specific actions are taken by the United States government. This makes no sense.”

She argued that a provision demanding that the U.N. waive immunity for U.N. employees involved in the attack is unnecessary.

“U.N. immunity is already waived in cases where it would impede the course of justice or where someone has committed human rights violations or engaged in or supported acts of terrorism,” DeLauro said. “We all want justice for the horrific attacks on both Americans and our friends in Israel and indeed, the Justice Department has a task force already investigating this issue. We should work together to address this in a manner that achieves true justice.”

Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) introduced an amendment that would halt future U.S. aid to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation until the State Department transmits to Congress all evidence provided by Israel and all U.S. assessments about the diversion of United Nations humanitarian aid by Hamas in Gaza.

It would also require the State Department to report to Congress on deaths at or near GHF distribution sites and plans to minimize such deaths, as well as on fraud and antiterrorism safeguards, before any further aid is provided to the GHF.

Dean accused the GHF of “violating core humanitarian principles” and described the system as a “death trap for starving Palestinians,” urging the U.S. to return to previous U.N. and NGO-run distribution systems.

She said she’s been shown no proof that Hamas had diverted aid provided under previous distribution systems, though she said that it “could be” doing so. 

Dean claimed that “not a single refugee was gunned down as they attempted desperately to retrieve aid for their family with UNRWA or [the] World Food [Program] or other U.N. programs” and alleged that “more than 1,000 Gazans have been killed — shot and killed — by the IDF by trying to simply get food” at GHF sites. Israel has denied claims that it is targeting aid recipients at GHF sites, and some reports of such activity have been disproven.

Dean withdrew her amendment without requesting a vote.

Dean and Watson Coleman introduced another amendment to encourage the State Department to continue to support the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, which the committee rejected by a party line 35-26 vote.

Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL) argued against the amendment, saying that no provisions of law would otherwise prohibit aid to the hospital network and that the decision should be left to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to assess where and how humanitarian funding would be best spent.

As part of an amendment package, committee Republicans called for an additional $2 million to be provided in the coming year for the implementation, enforcement and renewal of sanctions on Iran.

The amendment package also included language expressing concern about the Muslim Brotherhood, and requesting a report to Congress on how the State Department is countering “the threats posed” by the group, including visa restrictions.

The amendment package was adopted by a 34-27 vote.

Democrats more broadly criticized Republicans for the significant cuts the bill would enact on the State Department and U.S. foreign aid programs formerly run through the U.S. Agency for International Development.