Exclusive: The incoming chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee has vowed to overhaul how taxpayer dollars are spent by the State Department when he takes the helm of the influential committee next year.
Congressman Brian Mast (R-Fla.) will take over from current term-limited Speaker Michael McCaul (R-Texas).
“When you're dealing with the State Department, it's dollars that flow to foreign companies, foreign countries, foreign NGOs, foreign adversaries like Afghanistan, the Taliban. It's dollars that go to foreign companies, foreign countries, foreign NGOs, foreign adversaries like Afghanistan, the Taliban. I have to use the word for it, but it's dollars that go to foreign companies, foreign countries, foreign NGOs, foreign adversaries like Afghanistan. We need testing, to say the least,” Mast told FOX News Digital on Wednesday.
“That's going to be the focus of the committee. That's going to be the focus of each subcommittee — going into each branch of the Department of State and working together.” [Trump Secretary of State nominee Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.]Of course, and…there's a way to actually bring sunlight to this. [Biden] The administration did not allow it. ”
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Congressman Brian Mast, an ally of President-elect Trump, will become the new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. (Getty Images)
Mast said he would like to require the State Department to notify Congress of each grant it issues. I'm keeping an eye on whether or not they're being sent.” can [say]”No, that's not something we sanction.”
The decorated Afghanistan war veteran won a crowded four-way race to succeed McCaul as the top Republican on the House committee that oversees the State Department and U.S. foreign relations.
Although Mast has been in Congress for a shorter time than his Republican opponents, he stands out as one of Trump's most important allies in the 2024 presidential campaign.
Mast heads the Veterans for Trump coalition and has represented military personnel at several military-related events.
The Florida Republican has a lower record on Ukraine than his Republican opponents, Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Missouri) and Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina), as well as Mr. McCaul. Not markedly hawkish.
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The committee is currently headed by Congressman Michael McCaul. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Like Trump, he has been critical of continued U.S. aid to Ukraine and has voted against providing additional funding in the past.
“President Trump wants Ukraine to win. He wants to absolutely rebuke this.” [of] Russia's actions [President] President Vladimir Putin wants to end this quickly. He has a plan to do so. He will do that, and as the Foreign Affairs Empowerment of the House, he will have my every support in doing that,” Mast said.
He also pointed to his deep ties to the Trump administration, including ties to Rubio and incoming national security adviser Rep. Mike Walz (R-Fla.).
Asked if his ties to Trump were part of his argument for the gavel, Mast said, “It certainly was.”
Mast praised President Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But Mast said his overall goal for the committee is based on the principle that “every diplomat and every dollar puts America first.”
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“If you're a diplomat and you're apologizing for America and you're not putting America first, you're going to be under our microscope, that's for sure. And that's what they're going to do. We hope it will have a chilling effect on the economy,” Mast said. Rubio will likely be a partner in that goal.
“But as we all know, when our colleagues have the opportunity to take over these agencies, decades-old employees who may not be ideologically aligned, Well, guess what? If you're one of the 15 people who signed on to spend $500,000 of American taxpayers on atheism. You should know that we are looking for you.”
