GOP's U.N. bill in jeopardy

House Republican efforts to pass a bill taking back $179 million that the United Nations owes to the U.S. appears to be on shaky ground, and could be the second vote in as many days that fails on the House floor.

Debate on the bill, H.R. 519, started just before 1 p.m., with Democrats lined up to oppose it. While Democrats are not normally needed to pass a bill in the Republican-controlled House, the GOP is trying to pass the bill under a suspension of House rules, which requires two-thirds of voting members to support it — 290 if all members vote.

House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Howard Berman (D-Calif.) said the Congressional Budget Office found that the bill would not save any money. He also argued that the U.N. needs the money to improve security at its New York headquarters, that these security improvements are an obligation of the host country, and that pulling money out would put the U.S. in arrears.

"So we're not saving money, we're spurning the important security requests, and we are going back into a pattern of arrearages that undermines our efforts at the U.N.," Berman said.

Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) summarized his assessment hardly. "It's stupid," he said. "Vote 'no' on stupid."

A New York Republican, Rep. Peter King, also argued against the bill and called for the money to be used for security improvements. "This is a matter of life and death," he said. "This is a serious matter."

Supporters of the bill, led by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), have argued that the U.S. has been overpaying into the U.N.'s income tax reimbursement fund for several years now. She says the Obama administration has failed to reclaim that money, which the U.N. now wants to use for other reasons such as security improvements.

The House will hold a roll call vote on the bill later this afternoon.