McCaul wants to lead Foreign Affairs panel
For Austinite to have a shot, U.S. House must stay in GOP’s hands.
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, set to lose a powerful committee chairmanship because his term is ending, is jockeying for another leadership post but his best-laid plans would be scuttled if his party can’t retain
of the U.S. House. control
McCaul, R-Austin, who’sraised his profile as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has been campaigning since the beginning of the year to become chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He also is helping the campaigns of his Republican colleagues facing tough re-election battles in the fall.
Democrats need to flip 23 seats to seize control of the House — something political observers say is within reach in a tough election year for Republicans — and install their own members in leadership posts.
“I’ve talked to members on the Steering Committee and in leadership, I’ve done fundraising to help keep the majority,
and I’ve been helping other members out with re-election,” McCaul told the American-Statesman. “I’ve had a lot of encouragement to do it.”
As for his re-election prospects, McCaul, now in his seventh term, faces Democrat Mike Siegel and Libertarian Mike Ryan in a district that supported President Donald Trump by 9.1 percentage points in 2016 and is considered a “safe Republican” district by the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.
McCaul has contributed $55,500 through his Texas Republicans United PAC to the National Republican Congressional Committee this election cycle, as of June 30, the most recent data. His political action committee also has given $30,000 to House Republican candidates. And he was recently in Pennsylvania on a panel about opioid abuse with Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., who is in a close re-election race.
Seen as conscientious
The selection of GOP chairs goes through the House Republican Steering Committee, a group of about 30 members, including the House speaker — another position to be filled after Paul Ryan, R-Wis., announced his departure — whose votes carry more weight. The GOP members then vote on those choices.
“Michael McCaul is very well-positioned to become chair of Foreign Affairs, but to improve his chances he needs to ratchet up his level of activity (particularly fundraising) in support of the approximately 50 Republican candidates nationwide, incumbents and rookies, who face serious challenges from Democratic candidates in November,” said Rice University political science professor Mark Jones. “Those efforts will both place those potential members of the 2019-20 GOP caucus in his debt, but also will contribute to the ultimate goal of retaining the Republican House majority.”
McCaul likes to point to his track record as chief of the Homeland Security panel, which has moved dozens of bills during his tenure, although the immigration package McCaul co-authored that was favored by President Donald Trump — including funding for the border wall — failed to clear the House in June.
In the wake of the Austin bombings in the spring, McCaul held a hearing about how law enforcement at local, state and federal levels shared information that led to the discovery of Mark Conditt, who police say detonated five bombs that killed two people and injured four others before killing himself.
McCaul has traveled extensively, speaks at thinks tanks, issues a monthly “Terror Threat Snapshot” and appears often on television, especially Fox News.
“Congressman McCaul is seen as a conscientious and dedicated chairman,” said U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, a member of the Homeland Security Committee, who is retiring at the end of his term. “He makes a special effort to include other members of the committee in legislative efforts. And he is an articulate and able spokesman on national security issues. I consider him the favorite to chair the Foreign Affairs Committee in the next Congress. And I think GOP leaders feel the same way.”
Seven Texans chair committees now, but even if Republicans retain the majority, the state’s delegation stands to lose as many as four leadership posts.
“Term limits are hollowing out the power of the Texas delegation so the remaining and future members will push to get more Texans in power positions,” University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus said.
McCaul’s competition
McCaul is facing competition for the chairmanship from Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who famously shouted “You lie” to President Barack Obama in 2009 during the State of the Union address when Obama said the new health care law would not apply to immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. More recently, Wilson was one of the lawmakers duped by a cable TV program into saying he supported arming very young children.
“Wilson’s reputation hinges on that moment when he yells ‘You lie,’” Southern Methodist University political science professor Cal Jillson said. “He is seen as inflammatory and unpredictable. People would see McCaul as a far steadier hand.”
Wilson told McClatchy Newspapers that he apologized for the outburst and said that he has received expressions of support when he traveled around the country as well as from his constituents, who re-elected him by large margins.
House Republican aides say Wilson, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has worked with Democratic members on a number of issues, including leading a congressional delegation to Israel for the U.S. Embassy dedication in Jerusalem this year and visiting North Korea with a Democratic representative.
Wilson has contributed $43,650 this election cycle to the National Republican Congressional Committee through his Speak Up America PAC. He’s also contributed more than twice what McCaul has contributed to GOP House members — $64,500, including $5,000 to House Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., who is in a tough re-election battle.
McCaul has traveled extensively, issues a monthly ‘Terror Threat Snapshot’ and appears often on television, especially Fox News.