During Wednesday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) questioned State Department Officials about department authorization.
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00:00I thank each of you for your opening statements. I'm now going to move to questioning. I'm going to begin with Chairman Emeritus McCall.
00:07Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me commend you for this noble effort. There's a reason why it hasn't happened since 2002.
00:17As Ranking Member Meeks mentioned, we work together on state authorizations, but not a full scale.
00:26Well, oftentimes the Senate is the problem, even if we can get it through the House.
00:33But I do think it's important because, you know, when the diplomats fail, we get a war.
00:39That's what this committee is all about.
00:42This committee has the authority, the obligation to deal with issues of war and peace.
00:48And I've often thought, why cannot this committee pass an authorization like the National Defense Authorization Bill that the Armed Services Committee passes?
01:02Instead, about 25% of the NDAA comes out of this committee.
01:08So we use that vehicle to pass our authorizations.
01:14But if we fail to authorize, then we do abdicate our Article I responsibilities.
01:21We also don't have the proper capabilities to do the oversight that's necessary.
01:29If we authorize something within state, whoever's in the executive, it makes it more difficult for the executive to act against the Article I branch of Congress.
01:43No matter whether that's a Democrat or Republican administration.
01:48And it is the Congress acting under its constitutional responsibilities.
01:55So, again, I applaud you for this.
01:59I think this is going to be a healthy discussion.
02:03I guess my question, and lastly, I have to say, just like the NDAA, it will be impossible for us to pass a state authorization, both House and Senate, if it's not bipartisan.
02:18And that's true with most legislation.
02:20In my 20 years, you can have messaging bills, but if you really want to get things done, especially on an authorization like this, I think the NDAA is a good model to examine where House and Senate, bipartisan work together to get a good piece of legislation done.
02:41But, Mr. Chairman, we don't have to rely on the NDAA to do all of our authorizations of state.
02:47And that's what has happened since 2002, and it is a difficult process.
02:56And I want to ask all three of you, in the limited time, what are the long-term risks to our U.S. global leadership if Congress continues to operate without a regular reauthorization of the State Department?
03:15I'll start, Congressman.
03:17Without your input into a tightly organized Department of State, it will not reach its potential to coordinate, which is its core purpose,
03:32military power, military power, military power, and our partners and friends around the world, into a coherent effort to advance the safety and the prosperity of the American people, which is the core goal.
03:53The military puts great effort into this in a way that, having been in both institutions as a career officer, I don't see it to the same degree in the State Department.
04:05Anything you folks here can do to help that would be much appreciated.
04:08If I could give a good example, Mr. Chairman, under the first Trump administration, Mike Pompeo set up an office to deal with emergency contingencies in response to what he foresaw happening in Afghanistan.
04:24Unfortunately, the Biden administration eliminated that office, so when Afghanistan fell in a disastrous way, that office was not there to respond.
04:40And you know why?
04:41Because it wasn't authorized by Congress.
04:43Any more thoughts?
04:47No, I think that's an excellent example.
04:51I would, in addition to what you've said and what Jim has said, I would say that, you know, one of the problems also is that the State Department tends to go on autopilot when it hasn't gotten the direction that it needs.
05:03And that's a natural bureaucratic instinct, but it needs to be fought all the time.
05:07And I think the annual authorization process can help make sure that the State Department is actually changing as events change and as requirements change.
05:17I think the more fundamental thing in my mind is that the longer the State Department goes without an authorization bill, the more detached it is from the will of the American people.
05:27And so we need to make sure that Congress is playing its role to wake us up and hold us accountable.
05:34I'm no longer, when I say us, it's no longer me, but I'm in the organization I was part of for my entire adult life, and responsive.
05:42And that we have an opportunity also to tell our story as to why we want to do things a certain way and have that debate with the authorizers and appropriators.
05:50My time has expired.
05:52Excellent point about the will of the American people.
05:54Otherwise, it's acting in an autocratic way without the will of the American people.
05:59I yield back.
06:01Now, right.