House Republicans’ Steering Committee announced on Monday afternoon their selection of Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) as the next chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Mast currently serves on the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability.
Roll Call described Mast’s pick as surprising and said the conservative Congressman is “known for his sharp tongue and grievance politics” and Axios called Mast the “dark horse” choice over Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO).
Mast will bring to the role his staunch support of President-elect Donald Trump, staunch support of Israel and notably, opposition to continued US support of Ukraine.
Israel support
While he is Christian, Mast devoutly supported Israel for several years before his 2022 run for office.
Mast is a 12-year Army Veteran and an alumnus of Sar-el, the National Project for Volunteers for Israel, two titles he holds proudly.
Mast was a member of the US Army’s Elite Joint Special Forces Special Operations Command when he was serving as an explosive ordnance disposal operator in 2010 when he lost his legs to a bomb blast.
He credits witnessing anti-Israel protests at the Boston Commons — and being harassed for being a veteran by those protesters — as a student at Harvard in 2014 for sparking his determination to support Israel.
Mast described the incident in a 2021 campaign video, saying “because of that instance, I decided that I was going to go and show my support for Israel, and I knew that I wanted it to be something military.”
He continued, describing an opportunity to volunteer along the IDF in 2015.
“One of the important things that I learned while I was over there serving was how every citizen across Israel desires nothing more than peace,” he said, explaining how he spent Shabbat with families who were all waiting for children or grandchildren to return from military service.
“And as a father of three, I know that there is no quicker way to break me down than to have to think about losing or burying one of my children, but that is the reality for every single family across Israel, and that’s how I know that every single one of them truly desires nothing more than peace with Libya, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, every other neighbor throughout the Middle East,” he said. “Because they want to see their kids grow and they want to see them prosper, and they want to see them start families.”
Several days after October 7, Mast caused shockwaves wearing his IDF volunteer uniform to Capitol Hill.
“Hamas called today ‘the Global Day of Rage.’ I call BS,” Mast said in a statement at the time. “That’s why, today, I pulled the uniform that I wore when I volunteered with the IDF out of the closet. It was my way to show solidarity with our biggest ally in the Middle East on the day that Hamas called for violence on Jewish people globally.”
He said wearing the IDF uniform was the “least he could do” to make it clear that the US will stand with Israel.
Several weeks later, Mast again made waves on the floor of Capitol Hill when he said he’d encourage Democrats to “not so lightly use the term innocent Palestinian civilians as frequently said.”
“I don’t think we’d so lightly throw around the term innocent Nazi civilians during World War II,” he continued, justifying his claim that innocent Palestinians could not exist because of Hamas-infiltrated schools.
In January this year, Mast co-introduced the “Stop Support for UNRWA Act of 2024” which would prevent any US funding to UNRWA or humanitarian agency affiliated with terrorism.
“Our great ally is at war with our non-ally. And there’s one entity that is the entire workforce; nearly all of it is made up of our non-ally and works to support our non-ally, and we’re paying the salaries of these people that our non-ally is at war with,” Mast said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post in February after his bill was in markup. “We’re paying for the resources of these people. None of that adds up.
Democrats, including Committee on Foreign Affairs Minority Leader Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), overwhelmingly opposed Mast’s legislation.
Mast told the Post that even if it’s in Israel’s best interest to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, it’s irresponsible to be asked to support both sides of a war.
His legislation did not move out of committee.
Voting record on Ukraine
Mast flip-flopped his voting record on Ukraine over the course of the war.
In 2022 after Russia’s invasion, Mast praised the resilience and determination of the Ukrainian people and said that the US needs to stand with Ukraine.
“America should always choose the side of democracy and freedom,” Mast said at the time. “I’ll continue to make that choice every day that I represent you in Congress.”
Republicans for Ukraine, a watchdog from Defending Democracies Together, ranked Mast with a “very poor” F rating on Ukraine support.
Both this year and last year, he voted against a slew of Ukraine funding legislation and said he would not “blindly send” US tax dollars to a conflict with no clear goal.
Rep. Mike McCaul, the current chairman of the Committee, praised the selection of Mast as his successor.
“With the world on fire, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is more important than ever. And I have no doubt Congressman Mast — a distinguished combat veteran and experienced member of this committee — will serve the nation well in this role, as he sacrificed in Afghanistan,” McCaul said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to work alongside him to advance U.S. foreign policy through this crucial committee in the 119th Congress. Congratulations, chairman-elect!”
Fellow Steering Committee Florida Republican Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Vern Buchanan and Byron Donalds Committee called Mast a “true champion for freedom, both at home and abroad.”
“This is an honor for our state,” the representatives said. “And we were proud to advocate for him in this powerful position.”
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
