AG Drummond sues Biden admin over emergency health powers delegated to WHO

Drummond sues Biden administration over emergency health powers delegated to WHO 

OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 30, 2023) – Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to remove an illegal regulation from federal law that allows the World Health Organization (WHO) to exert its authority over the United States.

Filed last week in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Texas, the lawsuit notes that the HHS’s definition of public health emergency exceeds the agency’s scope by unlawfully giving the WHO the authority to invoke emergency health powers in this nation.

“This regulation is an infringement on U.S. and state sovereignty,” Drummond said. “It is particularly egregious that the Biden administration would delegate such sovereignty to the World Health Organization in light of the WHO’s many missteps during the pandemic. The WHO’s poor management, lack of accountability and alarming ties to the Chinese communist government render it less than credible. The bottom line is, no country or organization other than the United States government should have the authority to declare a health emergency and invoke the corresponding powers.”

The unlawful regulation was finalized in the final days of the President Obama administration. Last year, the Biden administration refused a petition filed by Oklahoma and several other states to eliminate a part of the federal code that inappropriately delegates excessive power to the WHO.