Beneath the Headline: US States Are Rejoining the WHO

While the majority of Americans have undoubtedly grown weary of unelected global authorities wielding unchecked tyrannical power in the name of “health,” California Governor Gavin Newsom has just rolled out the red carpet for more of the same. In a move that would be laughable if it weren’t so brazenly dangerous, Newsom just announced that California has become the first state (not country, mind you, but state) to formally join the World Health Organization’s (WHO) international disease platform to coordinate international response to emerging public health threats known as the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, or GOARN. Newsom’s move isn’t diplomacy. Instead, it’s allegiance to a pre-scripted future that is far from any voter ballot box. And the implications are staggering.

The January 23rd press release from Newsom’s office could just as easily have come straight from WHO headquarters. After personally meeting with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva to finalize the deal, California sealed its role as a “subnational leader” in global health collaboration. As expected, notably absent was any mention of voter input, legislative debate, or accountability. Why? Because in Newsom’s California, sovereignty is not something he tends to consult his people about. Instead, he effortlessly trades it in Davos.

While the Trump administration formally withdrew the United States from the WHO in January 2026—finally ending 78 years of membership and substantial financial contribution—apparently, Newsom couldn’t wait to get to the front of the line. Why? Maybe because He has long aspired to be more than just a governor. Indeed, he wants a global portfolio, and what better way than to outsource California’s health autonomy to the very same shady group behind the lockdowns, massive censorship, mask mandates, and unprecedented compliance coercion of an experimental, untested gene-therapy “vaccine”? Make no mistake. None of these decisions were founded on protecting public health.

Despite pushback from nations like the United States, the WHO is working feverishly to finalize a new set of international health regulations and a pandemic accord that would give it sweeping control over the response to future crises. And not just during pandemics. Instead, these overlord rules would apply to anything it deems to be a “public health emergency.” Such as climate change, misinformation, disobedient states, and so on. Essentially, a choose-your-own-emergency standard of governance that, instead of resisting, Newsom is volunteering California to participate.

Again, at a time when countries like Hungary, Slovakia, and even members of the African Union are pushing back against WHO overreach, one of the most powerful states in our nation is diving headfirst into a globalist experiment with no democratic oversight. In no way is this leadership by Newsom. It is obedience in disguise.

And who exactly is orchestrating this dutiful allegiance? Undoubtedly, Newsom’s friend Sir Jeremy Farrar played a role. For years, Farrar and Newsom have often joined forces on significant issues that the WHO has used to support its dictatorship. Now the WHO’s Chief Scientist, Farrar, played a starring role during COVID in pushing the lockdown narrative while also downplaying lab-leak concerns and dissenting scientific voices. Following the pandemic, Farrar and his cadre moved on to warn of future pandemics. Undoubtedly, they’re not just preparing; they are also rehearsing.

To that point, the WHO proudly announced in December 2025 that it is actively “getting ready for the next pandemic,” complete with simulation exercises, new frameworks, and tighter coordination. Their efforts follow years of tabletop exercises, including the Bill Gates’ funded Event 201, which took place just months before the COVID-19 pandemic. In hindsight, Event 201 was a chilling rehearsal that eerily mirrored much of the real-world tyranny-based responses forced upon society, right down to the censorship of so-called “mis-information.”

Of course, the WHO sees all of its efforts as success. In fact, in its February 2026 statement, the organization declared that, thanks to them, the world is “better prepared” for the next pandemic. What they mean, of course, is that framework for lockdowns, mandates, global messaging control, and its centralized command—despite no partnership with the United States on the federal level—are now synced and ready for action.

Meanwhile, California, under Newsom’s iron-fisted pandemic rule, endured some of the harshest lockdowns in the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The state kept schools closed longer than most of Europe, criminalized those not falling in line, and drained its already suffering small-business economy dry, all while Newsom did as he pleased. Today, California is suffering, with homelessness soaring and mental health in crisis. But rather than tend to those very real situations, Newsom has chosen to virtue-signal across the globe.

But hold on. Again, despite the US cutting ties with the WHO on the federal level, Newsom is not alone in his allegiance to the NGO. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) remains a long-standing founding partner of the WHO’s GOARN network. While the US stepped back from other WHO commitments, the CDC never left its place as a “crucial partner” at GOARN. In fact, the agency has personnel and surveillance operations embedded within GOARN. The CDC also participates in real-time global event tracking and the coordination of public health responses.

While the CDC’s continued involvement with its partnerships in global health protection, including GOARN, is obvious on its Global Health Protection webpage, what’s less clear is how much US taxpayer money is quietly flowing into this and other collaborations. Unsettlingly, GOARN spending is not easily found in CDC budget documents, and the agency’s roughly $11.6 billion annual budget continues to fund global programs with limited transparency.

And now, following in Newsom’s footsteps, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the New York City Department of Health have also joined GOARN. As the first municipal health department in the US to join this UN-led worldwide network, New York City’s acting Health Commissioner and Chief Medical Officer, Michelle Morse, said in a statement:

“New York City is a global city with 8.5 million residents and more than 12 million international visitors every year. To best prevent disease outbreaks and public health emergencies and to protect New Yorkers and visitors from them, the NYC Health Department is joining hundreds of public health institutions worldwide that share critical public health information to support life-saving prevention and response efforts.”

The decisions by California, Illinois, and New York City, which were not made by public vote but rather by executive directive, reflect an unsettling trend post-pandemic. Indeed, blue-state and city health departments are bypassing national sovereignty to pledge loyalty to deep-state-tied international governance health structures. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker praised the allegiance as a way to “remain connected to global intelligence.” Yet, behind each of these decisions, the same pattern exists. Unelected or unaccountable health bureaucrats partnering with an unelected and globally deceptive institution.

Of course, this pattern fits perfectly with the WHO’s preference for technocratic rule over democratic process. As detailed by Joseph Mercola, the WHO is increasingly influenced by wealthy private foundations, NGOs, and corporate sponsors – many of whom had more to gain (and billions to make) from the mass vaccination and perpetual emergency declarations unveiled during the COVID-19 pandemic than they did from siding with what’s actually best for public health. So, as we survey the landscape and take note thus far of those who have joined the other team, let’s connect the dots of where we stand:

-California joins an international WHO project that the U.S. intentionally hasn’t signed onto.

-In a crisis (which could be any number of things) hat project could override local decisions in favor of coordinated and tyrannical measures.

-The WHO’s track record is contaminated by its blatant use of censorship, politicization, and corporate capture.

-The CDC remains an embedded partner with GOARN, quietly funneling U.S. expertise and untallied funding into the corrupt global mission.

-Illinois and New York City have followed suit, bypassing voters to lock in global health alignment.

-Newsom, who governed California like a feudal lord during COVID, is now offering up the state to the very machine that fueled that response.

The decision by Newsom, and now Illinois and NYC, is not just bad policy. In reality, it is a test balloon for future governance by international decree. And the deeper danger here is not just what Newsom and willingly signed Californians up for. The deeper danger is the precedent that a single state executive can align with foreign and supra-international institutions outside of the consent of those it governs. That should immediately alarm everyone. As the WHO builds a new scam of global health control, Newsom just sold California’s soul. The next question is who else will follow. Or, more importantly, who will resist.