According to minutes released from a recent ARRL Executive Committee Meeting, ARRL has suggested that its influence with the IARU could become limited should the proposed IARU restructuring plan be adopted.
Within the current structure, ARRL serves as the International Secretariat of the IARU Administrative Council. This gives ARRL the ability to nominate both the President and Vice Preseident of the IARU Administrative Council. Member societies from each country then vote on the nominations. The current IARU restructuring plan suggests a flatter structure that gives direct power to the member societies in the form of a General Assembly. The member societies would elect officers and board members directly without nominations put forth by ARRL.
In short, ARRL would transition from nominating officers to simply being one vote out of roughly 160 member societies that make up IARU.
In its meeting minutes, ARRL noted that the league is the primary financial backer of IARU and had calls scheduled to further discuss the matter.
Source: ARRL