Congress moves to restore U.S. humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees
H.R. 2411 — UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration Act of 2025 · Filed by André Carson (D-IN) · 81 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 27, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill repeals two prior appropriations provisions that blocked U.S. funding to UNRWA (the UN agency serving Palestinian refugees) and rescinds a February 2025 executive order that withdrew U.S. support from certain UN organizations. It restores State Department authority to fund UNRWA and requires quarterly reporting on UNRWA's implementation of accountability reforms recommended by an independent review. The bill benefits Palestinian refugees in Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank by restoring humanitarian aid for food, health, and education services.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is the repeal of funding prohibitions and rescission of a withdrawal order, restoring U.S. humanitarian assistance to a UN refugee agency. This is a straightforward reversal of prior restrictions on aid, not a regulatory or tax measure.
What the text implies
- Restoring UNRWA funding may face political resistance from members who supported the original funding blocks; the bill's passage is uncertain despite 81 cosponsors.
- Quarterly reporting requirement through 2028 creates ongoing congressional oversight of UNRWA's reform implementation, potentially enabling future defunding if reforms are deemed insufficient.
- The bill's effectiveness depends on the President's willingness to rescind the February 2025 executive order; a hostile administration could resist or delay implementation.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill restores humanitarian aid to vulnerable refugee populations facing famine and disease, particularly in Gaza. It conditions resumed funding on UNRWA's implementation of accountability reforms, balancing humanitarian need with oversight.
Named in the bill
UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees), U.S. Department of State, Gaza, Palestinian refugees, Catherine Colonna (Independent Review Group leader), Government of Israel, United Nations
Where it stands
81 cosponsors: 81 Democrats.
- Mar 27, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Mar 27, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Foreign Affairs · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $340,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 50 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
André Carson, the sponsor, reported $558,084 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- J Street — $340,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,071 characters) on Oct 26, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,580 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-26.
“Congress moves to restore U.S. humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr2411 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.