Representatives Brian Mast and Gregory Meeks on the role of Congress in US foreign policy as Trump takes office

“The goal is good policy that makes America the partner of choice,” said Representative Brian Mast, the new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “Does what we’re doing make a nation say or a region say, ‘Those are the ones that we want to work with?’”

Mast, a Republican, spoke alongside the committee’s ranking Democratic member, Representative Gregory Meeks, on Tuesday at the “Passing the Baton 2025” event at the United States Institute of Peace, which was co-hosted by the Atlantic Council. Every four years, the event brings together leaders from both parties to mark the peaceful transfer of power—in this case from President Joe Biden to President-elect Donald Trump—and the bipartisan nature of US foreign policy. “Relationships are important. We’ve got to show up, we’ve got to be there,” Meeks said. “That’s what China is doing. If we don’t do that, China will fill a vacuum.”

Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe moderated the Mast and Meeks conversation, while Atlantic Council Board of Directors Executive Vice Chair Stephen J. Hadley moderated a conversation between the outgoing and incoming national security advisors, and GeoEconomics Center Senior Director Josh Lipsky appeared on a panel about economics and trade.

Find more highlights from the US House members’ conversation below.

Approaches to foreign affairs

  • Mast described his approach to his role of chairman as ensuring that “every diplomat and every dollar puts America first.” 
  • Mast named three questions that should guide US foreign relations: 1) “What does America need from each country or region?” 2) “What does that country or region want from America?” 3) “Does what America’s providing get America what it needs?”
  • Meeks emphasized the importance of global cooperation on trade for US security. “What makes us a safer country is when we’re working and we’re trading,” he said. “It brings costs down, it brings inflation down, it makes us work collectively together in that regard.”
  • Meeks also highlighted the role of foreign aid and investment as tools of US foreign policy. “When we ignore countries in Africa and some of the other poorest countries in the world, we’re ignoring and hurting ourselves,” he said. “To help develop and create institutions and move forward and be concerned about humanitarian issues in other places of the world, that’s in our interest. And when we spend money in those areas, it’s an investment. It’s not a waste of the United States’ money.”

Great power competition

  • Mast noted the interconnected nature of US competition with its adversaries. His approach to China, he said, “goes beyond just looking at Asia,” but also entails paying attention to “where some of our allied nations like Israel are conducting policies that change global battlefields and global landscapes.” He argued that if Iran were to become further weakened, it could have knock-on effects for Tehran’s ability to export oil to China and provide drones to Russia. 
  • Meeks spoke of the importance of economic partnerships to “the global competition that we’re having with China,” particularly with Asia-Pacific countries. “Their economies are important,” he said. “They’re concerned about their economies. And they would prefer us as the country of choice. But if we’re not, the only other alternative is to depend upon China.”

Bipartisan cooperation

  • Mast said he doesn’t view bipartisanship as an end in itself, noting that “the goal is what we’re doing for our country and hopefully that’s bipartisan.”
  • It is important for Congress to present a united front on foreign affairs, said Meeks, “particularly when traveling, so folks don’t look at the United States of America as a divided country in regards to our foreign policy.” He cited aid for Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Sweden’s and Finland’s accession to NATO, and restrictions on Chinese outbound investment as instances of bipartisan cooperation.
  • But there will clearly be political battles to come as the new administration takes office. Mast said US foreign policy will be defined by Trump and incoming Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and “we will certainly work to create the right pathways to support that foreign policy.” Meeks replied that it was important for Congress to assert itself as a coequal branch in exercising oversight over the Trump administration—as it did for Biden and presidents before him. “We can never give up that authority.”
  • Still, Meeks spoke of how much he respects Mast, particularly for his sacrifice in having lost both his legs to an improvised explosive device while serving in Afghanistan. “Even when we disagree on the policy, we should always agree on the country and who we are and our institutions,” Meeks said of Mast. “And he’s shown it. He’s had the courage to do it.”

Watch the full discussion

Further reading

Image: A view of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, United States, on November 7, 2024, days after the national election. The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, serves as the seat of the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government. It is located on Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, DC. Photo by Aashish Kiphayet/NurPhoto.