Congressman Gaetz Calls for House Armed Services Committee to Launch Hearing into Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Policy Failures Affecting Service Members’ Safety

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Washington, D.C.- Today, U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz (FL-01) sent a letter to House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Chairman Mike Rogers requesting that he call Secretary of State Antony Blinken before the committee for an investigative hearing on how failed interagency foreign policy decisions have affected the safety of United States services members in Africa.

Rep. Gaetz's letter outlines the interagency overlap between the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of State (DoS), which provides a nexus for HASC to conduct oversight of DoS' Africa policy. In 2018, DoD and Department of State (DoS) developed the Stabilization Assistance Review (SAR) program to solidify a framework for how DoS, DoD, and USAID would work together to advance stabilization efforts abroad. Furthermore, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2022 enables the DoD and DoS, through the SAR, to develop security assistance and initiatives to improve governance of the security sector and build long-term relationships with key host-nation security officials consistent with U.S. national security and economic interests.

Under Secretary Blinken, the SAR structure has been jeopardized, as the interagency foreign policy decisions relating to Africa have put service members on the continent in danger. This is highlighted by the fact that following a report from the Office of Rep. Gaetzthat exposed the imminent risk U.S. troops face in Niger as a result of the Biden administration's coverup of intelligence in the region, the administration announced the withdrawalof 1,100 troops from the country.

Full text of Congressman Gaetz's letter to Chairman Rogers can be found HERE. Additionally, exclusive coverage of the letter by Fox News can be found HERE.

LETTER TEXT

Dear Chairman Rogers,

I write to formally request that you call Secretary of State Antony Blinken before the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) for an investigative hearing on how failed foreign policy decisions made by the Department of State (DoS) have endangered U.S. service members throughout the African continent. As you know, DoS sets key standards and guidelines for the Department of Defense (DoD); such as standardizing diplomatic relations with partner nations; agreeing to security cooperation pacts, like status of forces agreements; and facilitating financial and military aid through numerous programs, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

In 2018, the DoD and DoS developed the Stabilization Assistance Review (SAR) program. The SAR framework solidified how DoS, USAID, and DoD would work together to advance stabilization efforts. DoS, USAID, and DoD have developed new tools to operationalize SAR principles, including to craft political strategies, partner with other international donors, target and sequence stabilization assistance resources, and monitor and evaluate strategic outcomes. United States embassy teams in certain countries have, with assistance from relevant Combatant Commands, developed integrated stabilization plans and modalities to apply SAR principles.

The SAR served as the mechanism to operationalize the Global Fragility Strategy (GFS) that served as a joint project between DoD, DoS, Department of the Treasury, and USAID. This strategy was submitted to Congress in line with Section 504(a) of the Global Fragility Act of 2019, which requires development of a 10-year Global Fragility Strategy and creates a joint nexus for HASC oversight of actions conducted by each agency. In fact, the interagency group has policy leaders assigned to coordinate their efforts. In addition to Secretary Blinken, I request the following individuals as witnesses to testify about their policies and strategies that have jeopardized the safety and security of our service members in Africa:

1) Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee;

2) Assistant to the USAID Administrator for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization Robert Jenkins; and

3) DoD Principal Director of Counternarcotics and Stabilization Policy Joseph McMenamin.

The intended purpose of this investigative hearing is to ensure the GFS isn't negatively impacted by DoS' recent failures in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso that have led to a loss of security access for U.S. forces. The GFS created the United States Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, the stated goal of which is to enhance the ability of U.S. military to support this strategy through small-footprint, coordinated, partner-focused activities in line with DoD Policy Directive 3000.05 "Stabilization" and U.S. national security objectives. Section 1210A of the fiscal year 2020 NDAA ("Department of Defense Support for Stabilization Activities in National Security Interest of the United States"), enables the DoD and DoS, through the SAR, to develop security assistance and related programs and initiatives to improve governance of the security sector, build partners' institutional capacity, professionalize partner nation security forces, and build long-term relationships with key host nation security officials consistent with U.S. national security and economic interests.

Through these projects, the U.S. government has spent roughly $30 billion in 15 of the most fragile countries in the world in just five years, according to Jim Richardson, director of DoS' Office of Foreign Assistance. Given the amount of aid provided by DoS, the joint nexus created under Sec. 1210A of the 2020 NDAA, and the publicly stated foreign policy plans of the GFA, DoS officials have stated with regard to the GFA: "The decisions that were taken, the selection of partner countries that we're going forward with today within Africa, are within coastal West Africa and in Mozambique. So, we're going to be focusing under the U.S. strategy on those countries, building on our lessons learned, and moving forward with our whole-of-government, 10-year, locally led plans." Therefore, it is incumbent upon HASC to review and discuss these plans with the principal stakeholders to ensure we are not creating a potential second Benghazi incident or a second Afghanistan withdrawal as the joint agency moves forward.

I appreciate your attention to this matter of national security, which is in the interest of my constituents, as they were recently notified they would be removed from Niger following a report I published on DoD and DoS' coverup of security concerns and mistreatment of service members. The SAR and GFS also constitute a policy priority for both the executive branch and Congress, and thus warrant a full committee hearing to investigate.

Sincerely,

Matt Gaetz

Member of Congress

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