The Biden administration is being challenged over a global pandemic treaty it is negotiating with the World Health Organization. While WHO claims that the treaty will help the world be prepared in the event of future pandemics and be ready for the potential outbreak of what has been labeled “Disease X,” critics argue that it is a violation of free speech that will basically sell out American sovereignty to the global body.

The WHO wants to ratify the treaty at the World Health Assembly at its May 2024 Annual General Assembly and has been sounding an alarm on the fast approaching deadline for months. But opponents, concerned about how the treaty will allow the agency to dictate global public health policy, are raising questions on the need for such a treaty under which the U.S. would be required to share its public health data with WHO and over 190 countries.

In addition to the public health data it would be required to share, the U.S. would also have to follow rules set by WHO on global public health policy.

Critics of the treaty also point at the vagueness in the concept of public health emergency, warning that the definition could be extended to include immigration, reproductive health or climate emergencies.

At the forefront of the challenge to the global accord is Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), who chairs the House Oversight and Accountability Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

According to Wenstrup, the treaty not only threatens U.S. sovereignty but also poses a danger to the intellectual property rights of Americans.

Airing his views to Fox News, Wenstrup said, “The Biden Administration must ensure that the final draft does not violate American sovereignty or infringe upon the rights of the American people.”

Advancing American Freedom, a non-profit advocacy group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, also argues that the treaty would end up leaving the U.S. worse off for future pandemics.

Speaking to Fox News, John Shelton, the policy director at AAF, said, “The United States should withdraw from the World Health Organization. Instead, the Biden Administration continues to negotiate a fundamentally flawed draft that sells out American interests. No treaty should be considered without a change in WHO leadership and accountability for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including its role in the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO remains a geopolitically compromised institution paid for by American tax dollars.”

The Biden administration has said that it will not support any agreement that “would undermine U.S. sovereignty.” However, it might be open to the treaty, as a State Department spokesperson said, “The Biden-Harris Administration’s most fundamental responsibility is to protect the American people. To do that, we must protect the U.S. against the next pandemic by working with other countries to help detect threats as soon as they emerge, contain those threats at their source, and respond quickly to save lives.”