The Fifth Committee, which was expected to resolve the budget cap issue in a meeting this afternoon, has suspended any decision on the issue until later today. For the past few days, member states have been holding consultations with the Chair of the committee in an effort to reach a consensus on this matter. However, the US has insisted that a connection be made between substantial movement on reforms and the lifting of the budget cap, a position that the G77 and China have explicitly rejected. Both sides reaffirmed their positions in this afternoon's meeting, suggesting that no agreement has yet been reached regarding the relationship of the reform issue to the pending lifting of the budget cap.

This suspension has reaffirmed the possibility that the budget cap may not be lifted by consensus within the Fifth Committee. If a vote does occur, there is a distinct risk that the United States Congress will fail to deliver its dues to the UN, which will cause a very real funding crisis on a much more fundamental level than would a failure at lifting the budget cap; if the US does not pay its dues, the UN will actually lack a full quarter of its funds (rather than merely being unable to spend them). Further, any vote in the Fifth Committee is sure to damage the already tennuous relationship between this US administration and the UN.

The Fifth Committee will regroup at 5:00pm today to act upon a draft proposal put forward to lift the budget cap. However, if no consensus has yet been reached, action may be further postponed in order to avoid the potential downfalls of a vote.