Latest in Senate Foreign Relations Committee
On Wednesday, January 27, 2021, at 10:00 a.m., the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be the next U.N. ambassador.
You can watch a livestream here or below:
Senator Bob Menendez, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released a report yesterday titled, “The Cost of Trump’s Foreign Policy: Damage and Consequences for U.S. and Global Security.” The 74-page report—researched by democratic committee staffers for more than a year—is broken into four chapters, ending with findings and recommendations. The executive summary states, “This report takes stock of the damage President Trump’s foreign policy has inflicted on U.S.
It has been almost three weeks since the president ordered the precipitous withdrawal of U.S. forces from northeast Syria. The move allowed the Turkish military and its proxies to swiftly invade the area, setting off a cascade of events that has forced America’s Syrian-Kurdish partners to strike a deal with the Assad regime, exposed Kurdish soldiers and civilians to a barrage of attacks, enabled more than 100 ISIS fighters to escape Kurdish detention facilities, and facilitated the growth of Russian and Iranian influence in the region.
Editor’s Note: Trump's destruction of U.S. alliances and coddling of Moscow is alarming enough, but even more distressing is the apparent complacency of many powerful Republicans. This may be changing. Molly McKew of the New Media Frontier assesses legislation in the works that would constrain the president on NATO and Russia. If passed, it would mark a major step toward Congress reasserting itself as a foreign policy player.
Daniel Byman
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New movement may be afoot on a sanctions bill designed to deter Russian election interference. The bill, the Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines Act of 2018 (Deter Act), was introduced earlier this year by Sens. Marco Rubio (R.-Fla.) and Chris Van Hollen (D.-Md.).
The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held an open hearing on "Authority to Order the Use of Nuclear Weapons." The hearing took place after the committee's business meeting at 10 a.m. EST on Nov. 14. The following witnesses testified:
On Oct. 30, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard testimony from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis on the Trump administration’s views regarding the need for a new authorization for the use of military force (AUMF).
The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing on "The Authorizations for the Use of Military Force: Administration Perspective" at 5 p.m. EDT, Monday, Oct. 30.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (read statement here) and Defense Secretary James Mattis testified.
Watchdogs on the Hill: The Decline of Congressional Oversight of U.S. Foreign Relations
Linda L. Fowler
(Princeton UP 2015)
Executive power is on the rise, a familiar argument runs, and necessarily at the expense of Congressional authority. Linda L. Fowler, professor emerita in government at Dartmouth College, examines another direction of this claim with respect to US foreign policy and national security - what she describes as the decline of Congressional oversight over foreign relations. The tilt in the balance of power toward the president, that is, is not simply the executive's enlargement of its sphere, but Congress's affirmative withdrawal in key matters of foreign policy oversight.