House approves special US-China committee to keep strategic competition high on Congress’s agenda

Bipartisan panel charged with recommending policy on matters encompassing economic investment, technological progress and national security

But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s concessions to most conservative wing of Republican Party mean little room to manoeuvre

3-MIN READ3-MIN

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy arrives at the US Capitol in Washington on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 7:45am, 11 Jan 2023Updated: 4:33am, 12 Jan 2023

Fresh off a fraught leadership election and only a day after it passed a contentious rules package, the US House of Representatives on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to establish a select committee on US-China strategic competition, affirming its intention of keeping China at the forefront of the new Congress’s agenda.

The House voted 365-65 for the committee, with only Democrats opposing it.

A long-term goal of newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, the committee will “investigate and submit policy recommendations on the status of the Chinese Communist Party’s economic, technological, and security progress and its competition with the United States”.

The panel “could go a long way” towards coordinating policy across the many committee jurisdictions in the House and thereby “create a more coherent approach to our China policy”, McCarthy told The Hill in October.

In a December op-ed co-written by McCarthy and his pick to lead the committee, Republican congressman Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, the two singled out prohibiting investments into China, exposing dependence on the country, highlighting the Communist Party’s influence operations and deterring military aggression as key goals for the panel. Both Republicans had vowed a hard line on China.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (centre) shakes hands with Republican congressman Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin. Gallagher is McCarthy’s pick to lead the select committee on US-China strategic competition. Photo: EPA-EFE

The proposed committee lacks legislative authority, but would have the power to hold public hearings “in connection with any aspect of its investigative functions”. Its policy recommendations to standing, or permanent, committees must be submitted by the end of 2023.