Foreign Policy

Today, co-chairs of the Georgia Caucus Representatives Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), introduced H.R. 598 the Georgia Support Act. The legislation asserts the United States of America’s continued support for the independence and sovereignty of Georgia, recognizes Georgia’s commitment to democratic values including free and fair elections, and affirms U.S. opposition to Russian aggression in the region. In Georgia’s occupied regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russia has fome... Read more

Today, Representatives Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Steve Chabot (R-OH) re-introduced H.R. 596 the Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act, legislation prohibiting federal agencies from taking action that recognizes Russian sovereignty over Crimea. The legislation was previously introduced in the 115th, 114th, and 113th Congress. “Congress must lead the way in refusing to acknowledge the forcible and illegal annexation of Crimea. Failure to stand up to Russian aggression in the region will only embol... Read more

Jessica Taylor and Peter Overby Officials leasing the Old Post Office Building for the the Trump International Hotel in Washington improperly ignored the Constitution's anti-corruption clauses when they continued to lease the government property to President Trump even after he won the White House, according to an internal federal government watchdog. The Inspector General for the General Services Administration, the agency that leased the building to Trump in 2013, said in a report published W... Read more

David A. Fahrenthold The General Services Administration “ignored” concerns that President Trump’s lease on a government-owned building — the one that houses his Trump International Hotel in Washington — might violate the Constitution when it allowed Trump to keep the lease after he took office, according to a new report from the agency’s inspector general. Trump’s company won the lease several years before he became president. After Trump was elected, the agency had to decide whether his compa... Read more

Congressman Gerry Connolly, a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, released the following statement on the GSA OIG’s report finding GSA improperly ignored the Constitution in evaluating the Trump Organization’s lease at the Old Post Office Building: “Today, the GSA OIG confirmed what we all knew: The Trump Administration is in violation of the Emoluments clauses of the United States Constitution. GSA’s decision to not consider whether the President’s business interest in... Read more

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a bipartisan, bicameral letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney requesting a compliance report on the Trump administration’s implementation of the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016 (FATAA; PL 114-191). Connolly was joined by FATAA co-authors Judge Ted Poe (R-TX) and Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Marco Rubio (R-FL). Representatives Adam Smith (D-WA... Read more

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) introduced the bipartisan Global Health Security Act, which reaffirms the United States’ commitment to promoting global health security. The legislation is cosponsored by House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY), and Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Ami Bera (D-CA), and Ann Wagner (R-MO). The Global Health Security Act seeks to ad... Read more

Griffin Connolly The second-highest ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is calling for a public hearing on the Trump administration’s reported wasteful spending on border security. The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security found that a staffing plan green-lighted by the president has been marred by wasted resources and overlapping responsibilities among employees and contractors. In one case, the government paid outside consulting firm Acc... Read more

Nicole Ogrysko Customs and Border Protection has issued Accenture Federal Services, the vendor the agency hired to help CBP recruit border patrol agents and officers more quickly, a partial stop work order. The agency coordinated with Accenture and has asked the vendor to “reduce emphasis on some elements of the contract to allow more emphasis on others,” a CBP spokeswoman wrote in an email to Federal News Network. Specifically, the agency asked Accenture to stop work on applicant processing, b... Read more

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Vice Ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released the following statement on today’s Huffington Post report that the Trump administration spent $14 million to recruit two border agents. “While President Trump threatens a holiday shutdown for a wall that Mexico was supposed to pay for, we find out his Administration spent $14 million to hire two border agents. Congress gave him money for border security and he is wasting it. Th... Read more