The Fifth Committee resumed their session last night in order to lift the budget cap. As foreshadowed by the meeting's two suspensions, the United States and the G77 + China failed to overcome their substantial divisions in order to achieve a true consensus. Instead, the budget cap was lifted by a consensus by disassociation, in which the United States, Japan, and Australia voiced their lack of support for the decision. While this is not considered a split vote, it surely cannot be considered a true consensus either.

Major concerns have recently been voiced regarding the potential for alienating the United States in the case of a failure to reach consensus on this matter. While consensus was clearly not reached, many aspects of the discussion within the Fifth Committee suggest that the United States is still committed to both the reform process and the United Nations as a whole, with Ambassador Bolton making sure to express this continuing commitment in his statement of disassociation from consensus. Futher, the mere fact that the United States chose to disassociate instead of forcing a vote is a hopeful sign that further cooperation on this matter is expected.

However, in a statement made shortly after the closing of the session, Bolton assured reporters that the present state of reforms has been unacceptable and that no potential was left for substantive reforms before the end of this session (on this friday). Despite this firm US position, Ambassadors from Japan and Australia (the two other disassociated states) stated that they may be able to join the consensus in the case that further reforms are achieved before the friday session. The G77 + China promised to work "through the nights" in order to show movement on the reform issue before this upcoming session.

In a break from precedent, the European Union and the UK vocally split from the United States position on this matter, with the Austrian delegate emphasizing, on behalf of the EU, the need for consensus in a multilateral organization. The UK reaffirmed its association with the consensus in a separate statement made after that of the EU.