WASHINGTON — The United States plans to send an initial payment within weeks toward billions of dollars in unpaid UN dues, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Friday. The move is intended to relieve a cash crunch at the UN while giving Washington leverage to press for a sweeping reform push tied to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ UN80 initiative, Waltz said in a Reuters report, Feb. 6, 2026.
What the initial UN dues payment could cover
Guterres has warned member states that the UN could run out of cash by July unless governments pay on time and the organization updates a financial rule that forces it to credit back unspent funds even when the money was never received, according to a Reuters explainer. The UN General Assembly approved a $3.45 billion regular budget for 2026, but officials say persistent arrears have left the Secretariat scrambling to manage basic operating costs.
UN officials estimate the U.S. share of unpaid UN dues currently includes:
More than $2.19 billion in arrears to the regular UN budget
About $2.4 billion owed for current and past peacekeeping missions
Roughly $43.6 million due for UN tribunals
The Trump administration signed a spending bill this week that includes $3.1 billion for UN dues and other international organizations, but Waltz said the “ultimate figure” for the UN payment is still being determined. Fees are officially due by Feb. 8 each year; the Reuters explainer said only 41 countries had paid their 2026 assessed contributions in full so far.
The dues fight has ripple effects far beyond New York. The Council on Foreign Relations notes that assessed payments fund the UN’s day-to-day work and that the U.S. share of the regular budget is set at 22% based on the UN scale of assessments, detailed in its overview of how the United States funds the UN system.
Reform leverage and a “tough love” message
Waltz said the United States supports Guterres’ UN80 effort as “an important first step” but wants deeper cuts, including consolidating back-office functions and reducing duplication across agencies. He singled out overlap among climate-related offices as an example of where streamlining could free resources for the UN’s core missions.
Peacekeeping, a separate budget cycle, remains a flashpoint. U.S. law caps what Washington can pay for peacekeeping at 25%, while the UN assessment rate for the United States has typically been higher — a statutory disconnect that contributes to arrears. Waltz said that gap will have to be addressed in the next assessment negotiations.
Why UN dues fights keep returning
Today’s payment plan echoes earlier episodes where delayed contributions forced emergency measures. In late 2019, the UN imposed cost controls that disrupted some meetings as unpaid assessments piled up; Reuters reported that sessions in Geneva even saw microphones and screens shut off to save money. Earlier that year, Guterres warned that peacekeeping arrears were nearing $2 billion and that the United States was responsible for more than a third, according to another Reuters report.
The politics of UN dues also stretches back decades. A 2003 article for the Humanitarian Practice Network describes the late-1990s Helms-Biden compromise that authorized a multi-year plan to clear nearly $1 billion in U.S. arrears, tying payments to reforms and helping avert a potential loss of U.S. voting rights in the General Assembly.
For now, diplomats will watch for the timing and size of Washington’s first tranche — and whether UN80 reforms advance quickly enough to keep the UN’s finances from sliding back into crisis.
