McCaul Announces He Will Not Seek Another Term

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) - chairman emeritus of the House Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs Committees - announced he will not run for another congressional term. He will continue to serve the people of Texas for the remainder of the 119th Congress.

"It has been the honor of a lifetime to represent the people of central Texas and to chair the prestigious Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs Committees," said Chairman McCaul."My father's service in World War II inspired me to pursue a life of public service, with a focus on defending our great nation against global threats, and I have been proud to carry out that mission in Congress for more than two decades. I am ready for a new challenge in 2027 and look forward to continuing to serve my country in the national security and foreign policy realm."

Accomplishments:

McCaul entered Congress in 2005. Prior to that, he served as chief of counterterrorism and national security in the U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of Texas; as Texas' deputy attorney general under current U.S. Sen. John Cornyn; and as a federal prosecutor in the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section in Washington, D.C.

McCaul was selected by his peers to serve as the Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security from 2013-2019, and as the Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee 2019-2023 and then as the Chairman from 2023-2025. He was also selected by then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to serve as the Chairman of the China Task Force, which would later become the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Below are just some of McCaul's many accomplishments during his time in Congress:

House Committee on Homeland Security Leadership

McCaul's chairmanship of the House Homeland Security Committee was marked by a rise in brutal terror attacks against the United States homeland, our interests overseas, and our allies. He used his time with the gavel to strengthen the homeland amidst threats from these foreign fighters and online radicalization.

Boston Marathon Bombing Investigation

• In the wake of the 2013 bombing, Chairman McCaul led the congressional investigationthat exposed glaring gaps in the way federal, state and local law enforcement agencies share information.
• The investigation culminated in two comprehensive reports, released in March 2014and April 2015.
• As a result of McCaul's investigation, CBP tightenedscreening when there is a TEC "ping" on an individual - something that was missed on Tamerlan Tsarnaev's travel. In addition, the FBI rewrotethe JTTF information sharing rules that allowed task force officers to share information more easily with their home agencies.

Additional Counterterrorism Leadership

• McCaul began releasing a monthly assessment of global terrorism threats, called the "Terror Threat Snapshots,"which were widely cited by media and policymakers. The assessment was so useful, it has continuedto be used by the committee to this day.
• McCaul established a Foreign Fighter Task Force to investigate how best to fix ISIS-era foreign fighter travel gaps in our laws. The result was a comprehensive report. Using their findings, the House passedlegislation requiring a DHS exercise to detect and interrupt foreign fighter travel, and a later version of the bill was signedinto law in 2019. The work done by the task force also allowed the House to swiftly respond to the 2015 attacks in Paris because they had ready-made legislative textfor two billsthat quickly passed the House.

CISA Creation

• Chairman McCaul authored the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2018, creating CISAas a standalone agency under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security.
• This gave the federal government the ability to protect the nation's critical infrastructure - coordinating cyber defense, threat sharing, and incident response across government and industry.

TSA Expansion and Authorization

• McCaul passed the first ever reauthorization of TSAfor three years in 2018, which reformed and reauthorized TSA, while expanding important TSA programs like PreCheck and Global Entry.
• These measures eased airport congestion while allowing TSA to focus their resources on high-risk passengers that could have nefarious intentions.

Other Homeland Security Leadership

• McCaul successfully authored and passedthe first reauthorization of the Department of Homeland Security in years.
• McCaul served as an impeachment managerin the proceedings against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024.
• McCaul successfully secured a provision to pay back border states- primarily Texas - for $13.5 billion in costs incurred under the Biden administration.
• McCaul is currently chairing the Homeland Security Committee's "Task Force on Securing the Homeland Amidst Special Events"conduct oversight of the federal government's security preparations for major upcoming international events, including the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the FIFA World Cup in 2026, the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, the 2025 Ryder Cup, the United States' 250th anniversary in 2026, and the 2027 National Football League (NFL) draft.

House Committee on Foreign Affairs Leadership

McCaul's leadership on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, serving as both the ranking republican and the chairman, was marked by generational turmoil overseas, including the U.S. withdrawal from and resulting catastrophic fall of Afghanistan, Russia's invasion of Ukraine resulting in the largest land war in Europe since WWII, the horrific October 7^thattack on Israel and resulting war and instability in the Middle East, and increasingly aggressive actions by the Chinese Communist Party in the Indo Pacific. McCaul used his leadership position to pass legislation to confront U.S. adversaries and strengthen crucial U.S. alliances in order to boost U.S. national security.

Countering U.S. Adversaries

• McCaul led the charge to hold the Iranian regime accountable for the web of terrorism it created across the Middle East, including his Fight Crime Act, bipartisan legislation sanctioning those doing business with Iranian missile and drone programs that passed the House in 2023 and was later incorporated into the national security supplemental and signed into law in 2024. As a result of his efforts to counter the regime, particularly his involvement in the strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, McCaul was indictedby Iran in 2023.
• He was particularly focused on strengthening U.S. export controls, which are used to keep critical U.S. technology out of the hands of the CCP's military. He conducted a 90-day review, resulting in a comprehensive report. In addition, the House passed a multitude of bills sponsored or shepherded by McCaul during his leadership on the committee, including H.R. 8152, the Remote Access Security Act, which allows the U.S. to restrict or block remote access (via networks or the cloud) to U.S.-controlled technology, even when it's physically outside the country if that use poses a significant national security or foreign-policy risk.
• The chairman helped shepherd multiple pieces of legislation that strengthened the U.S. sanctions regime to hold our adversaries accountable and punish bad actors through the committee, including sanctions on the Houthisfor the repeated attacks against international shipping vessels; sanctions on CCP membersfor their nefarious actions against Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Uyghur people; and a variety of sanctions on Russia for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, to name a few.
• McCaul led the investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. His investigation resulted in three comprehensive reports, released in June 2020, September 2020, and August 2021. As a result, he testifiedas an expert witness in front of the Coronavirus Select Subcommittee. His findings were since corroborated by the Biden administration.

Strengthening U.S. Alliances and U.S. National Security

• McCaul was a champion for strengtheningour relationships with our Indo Pacific allies. authored and championed several pieces of legislationthat were passed in the 2023 NDAA to fully implement and strengthen AUKUS, the security pact between the U.S., U.K., and Australia that counters China in the Indo-Pacific. His legislation also streamlined the exchange of critical technology between the three countries, allowing our defense industrial bases to grow stronger and smarter together.
• McCaul was a congressional championfor the sweeping 2024 defense supplemental that invested billions of dollars in the U.S. defense industrial base and provided crucial weapons systems and support for U.S. allies, including Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. His leadership was a crucial factor in getting the sweeping legislation passed. Had this not passed, it is almost certain that Russia would be occupying Ukraine and threatening the rest of eastern Europe today.
• He was the lead sponsor of one of the four pillars that made up the final supplemental package, entitled the "21^st Century Peace Through Strength Act."This legislation contained a variety of critical policies to both confront our adversaries and strengthen U.S. national security, including the most comprehensive sanctions against Iran in years, and the REPO Act, which allowed frozen Russian assets to be redirected to Ukraine's reconstruction.
• Because of his determination to help Ukraine defeat Russia, the Ukrainian Parliament honored him with their "Man of the Year" award, and President Zelensky honored him with an "Order of Merit."
• McCaul authored and passedthe House's strongest bipartisan resolution (with more than 400 cosponsors) supporting Israel and condemning Hamas after the October 7 attack.
• McCaul has championed the rights of the people of Taiwan and led two bipartisan congressionaldelegationvisits to the island in the face of strong CCP opposition. His support for Taiwan is one of the primary reasons he was sanctioned by China.
• McCaul was dedicated to strengtheningour defense industrial base. As one example of his efforts, he created the Foreign Military Sales Task Forceto identify legislative improvements that could strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base, ensuring our country has the tools it needs to confront our adversaries. The task force released a reportthat was turned into legislation that was marked up and passed by the committee.
• Throughout his time in Congress, McCaul also prioritizedsecuringthe nation's last line of defense: our borders. As Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, McCaul's legislation requiring the then-Biden administration to resume Remain in Mexico was incorporatedinto H.R. 2, which passed the House in May 2023.

Afghanistan Oversight

• McCaul led the charge to hold the Biden administration accountable for its disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. From the moment the president announced the unilateral withdrawal, McCaul continuously pushed back on the administration's rosy narrative of the situation in Afghanistan during the military retrograde, and he repeatedly pushed the administrationto prioritize the safety and security of U.S. personnel in the country - unfortunately to no avail.
• From the moment the emergency evacuation began, McCaul launcheda comprehensive investigation to determine how such a catastrophe had happened, who was to blame, and how the U.S. could ensure this never happened again.
• The culmination of his three-year investigation produced a 115-page interim reportand a 350-page final report, based on 18 transcribed interviews, including with some of the most senior Biden officials in charge of the withdrawal and the subsequent evacuation; seven public hearings, with testimony from top Biden State Department and Defense Department officials; and 20,000 pages of documents obtained under subpoena from the State Department. As a result of the report, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan resolutioncondemning senior Biden administration officials the investigation found to be at fault.

China Task Force

• In the wake of the COVID pandemic, McCaul was selectedby then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to lead the China Task Force, which was aimed at coming up with cross-jurisdictional recommendations to address the generational threat emanating from the Chinese Communist Party. The task force, comprised of 15 members of Congress representing 11 congressional committees, conducted briefings with current and former administration officials on both sides of the aisle, business executives, ambassadors, and various outside experts. In total, the CTF engaged with more than 130 leaders to provide insights and solutions for its comprehensive action plan. The result was a 141-page comprehensive reportwith 82 key findings and more than 400 forward leaning recommendations, with over half of the legislative recommendations being bipartisan.
• One of the top recommendations from the China Task Force was passing the CHIPS Act, legislation authored by McCaul that would boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing research and strengthen supply chains for this critical technology. Because of McCaul's tireless leadership on this issue, the CHIPS Act was incorporatedinto the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act, which became law in 2022.

Other Foreign Policy Leadership

• McCaul has been a vociferous advocate for Americans illegally detained overseas, including Ryan Corbett, Trevor Reed, Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Austin Tice, and Mark Swidan, as well as the hostages held by Hamas. His efforts included holding roundtablesand press conferenceswith family members to support their return.
• McCaul authored a landmark, bipartisan conservation bill(included in the 2024 NDAA), which established the United States Foundation for International Conservation to promote robust, long-term conservation efforts between America's public and private sectors and undercut malign actors like Russia and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which tacitly profit from illicit hunting.
• McCaul's USAID Branding Modernization Actensured USAID projects are branded as American aid, not Chinese or Russian, to build goodwill for the United States.
• His Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Actwas signed into law in 2022, authorizing USAID to advance targeted interventions to prevent and treat malnutrition around the world, and requiring robust monitoring of these interventions to ensure effective use of taxpayer dollars.

Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments and Accolades

Childhood Cancer Caucus Leadership

• McCaul co-founded the Childhood Cancer Caucusin 2009 to give children with cancer a voice on Capitol Hill.
• Creating Hope Act- created the FDA Priority Review Vouchers (PRVs) for rare pediatric diseases including childhood cancers to spur drug developments where the market was failing.
• 63 PRVs have been awarded for pediatric diseases so far.
• Race for Children Act of 2017- allows the most innovative adult treatments for cancer to be studied for use in children.
• STAR Act of 2018(Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research Act) - the most comprehensive childhood cancer bill ever passed. It boosts tracking of childhood cancers, expands research, and works to improve the quality of life for survivors.
• The STAR has also been re-authorizedin subsequent Congresses to keep funding and programs in place.
• McCaul's Give Kids a Chance Actis currently making its way through the Energy and Commerce Committee. The bill would:
• Reauthorize the Food and Drug Administration priority review voucher (PRV) program - originally created under McCaul's Creating Hope Act - which allows pharmaceutical companies to expedite FDA review of more profitable drugs in return for developing treatments for rare pediatric diseases.
• Direct companies to study combinations of cancer drugs and therapies in pediatric trials, giving kids the same chance as adults to beat cancer.

Anti-Human Trafficking Work

• While chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, McCaul formally authorized and codifiedDHS's Blue Campaign against human trafficking, providing law enforcement new tools to help them deter, detect and mitigate instances of human trafficking.
• While ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, his Leveraging Information on Foreign Traffickers (LIFT) Actwas signed into law. The bill ensured law enforcement officials receive timely information about foreigners denied entry to the U.S. for human trafficking reasons, and it extended the survivor-led Advisory Council on Human Trafficking.

Productivity and Accolades

McCaul consistently ranked among the most effective and bipartisan members of Congress in independent scorecards.

• McCaul was named most effective Republican of the 116th Congress.
• While Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the 118th Congress, the committee passed 145 measures, 94 passed the House, and 29 became law. Approximately 90% of the committee's bills were bipartisan. This made it one of the most productive committees of the Congress.
• In 2023, he received the Statesmanship Award, presented by Former Members of Congress, for demonstrating bipartisan courage, commitment to democracy, and lifetime dedication to public service.

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