McCaul to next Foreign Affairs chair: ‘God help you’

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the outgoing chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, offered advice to his successor, who faces enormous global challenges and the unpredictability of the Trump administration: “God help you.”

McCaul, speaking in a panel discussion at the Atlantic Council, drew a laugh with his response, but said that his exit from atop the committee is likely to give him more freedom to speak his mind surrounding the Trump administration’s foreign policy.

The president-elect has criticized U.S. support for Ukraine, raised doubt about helping defend Taiwan against aggression from China, criticized NATO members as freeloaders and deepened anxieties among American partners and allies over blowback from tariffs — and McCaul has straddled a fine line in supporting Trump while being outspoken on areas that go against the president-elect's positions.

“I think the chair is going to be bound by whatever comes out of the White House, and while I certainly support most of those ideas, I will have some freedom and flexibility to speak my own mind and try to influence and persuade people,” he said.

McCaul withdrew a waiver to the House GOP to serve as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee beyond the term limits imposed, setting off a race for the chair among his colleagues — Reps. Ann Wagner (R-Mo), Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.).

“I think I’ll be given a role. I never thought of myself as an older person, but as a sort of — not senior statesman, but maybe older statesman, that my colleagues will listen to and that I can provide leadership,” he said.

The Texas Republican describes himself as center-right. He has been critical of far-right members of his party who reject U.S. assistance for Ukraine, and of the Biden administration for being too slow in making decisions on assistance for Kyiv that has handicapped their fight against Russia’s offensive war.

“Now we have these pro-Putin, Russia-loving people, and I don’t understand that,” he said, referring to critics of Biden’s decision to green-light Ukraine using Western-provided weapons to strike deep into Russian territory.

“We can’t afford to lose this fight, and it's vital to our national interests, because if Ukraine falls, Taiwan is next. And that will be World War III.”