The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs of the United States. Since 2025, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee has been Brian Mast of Florida.
| Standing committee | |
|---|---|
| Active United States House of Representatives 119th Congress | |
| History | |
| Formed | 1822 |
| Leadership | |
| Chair | Brian Mast (R) Since January 3, 2025 |
| Ranking member | Gregory Meeks (D) Since January 3, 2023 |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 51 |
| Political parties | Majority (27)
|
| Jurisdiction | |
| Policy areas | Foreign policy, aid, diplomacy |
| Oversight authority | Department of State Agency for International Development |
| Senate counterpart | Senate Committee on Foreign Relations |
| Website | |
| foreignaffairs democrats-foreignaffairs | |
The committee has a broad mandate to oversee legislation regarding the impact of national security developments on foreign policy; war powers, treaties, executive agreements, and military deployments abroad; foreign assistance; arms control; international economic policy; and other matters. Many of its responsibilities are delegated to one of six standing subcommittees, which have jurisdiction over issues related to their respective region in the world. The committee also oversees the U.S. Department of State, American embassies and diplomats, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
During two separate periods, 1975 to 1978 and 1995 to 2007, the Foreign Affairs Committee was renamed the Committee on International Relations; its duties and jurisdiction remained unchanged.
Its counterpart in the Senate is the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Members, 119th Congress
| Majority | Minority |
|---|---|
|
|
Resolutions electing members: H.Res. 13 (Chair), H.Res. 14 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 42 (R), H.Res. 44 (D), H.Res. 162 (D), H.Res. 283 (McCormick), H.Res. 600 (Fine)
Subcommittees
Whereas until the 118th Congress, subcommittees tended to combine jurisdiction over particular regions of the globe with jurisdiction over broader policy areas (e.g. terrorism or energy policy), in the 118th Congress, the subcommittees were reconfigured to strictly focus on geographical areas, with the exception of global issues and international organizations which received their own subcommittee.
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
|---|---|---|
| Africa | Chris Smith (R-NJ) | Sara Jacobs (D-CA) |
| East Asia and the Pacific | Young Kim (R-CA) | Ami Bera (D-CA) |
| Europe | Keith Self (R-TX) | Bill Keating (D-MA) |
| Middle East and North Africa | Mike Lawler (R-NY) | Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) |
| South and Central Asia | Bill Huizenga (R-MI) | Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) |
| Western Hemisphere | María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) | Joaquin Castro (D-TX) |
| Oversight and Intelligence | Cory Mills (R-FL) | Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) |
Leadership
Data from the committee's official website.
| Name | Party | Start | End | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Russell | Democratic-Republican | 1821 | 1823 | Massachusetts |
| John Forsyth | Democratic-Republican | 1823 | 1827 | Georgia |
| Edward Everett | National Republican | 1827 | 1829 | Massachusetts |
| William Archer | Democratic | 1829 | 1834 | Virginia |
| James Wayne | Democratic | 1834 | 1835 | Georgia |
| John Mason | Democratic | 1835 | Virginia | |
| Benjamin Howard | Democratic | 1835 | 1839 | Maryland |
| Francis Pickens | Democratic | 1839 | 1841 | South Carolina |
| Caleb Cushing | Democratic | 1841 | 1842 | Massachusetts |
| John Quincy Adams | Whig | 1842 | 1843 | Massachusetts |
| Charles Ingersoll | Democratic | 1843 | 1847 | Pennsylvania |
| Truman Smith | Whig | 1847 | 1849 | Connecticut |
| John McClernand | Democratic | 1849 | 1851 | Illinois |
| Thomas Bayly | Democratic | 1851 | 1855 | Virginia |
| Alexander Pennington | Opposition | 1855 | 1857 | New Jersey |
| Thomas Clingman | Democratic | 1857 | 1858 | North Carolina |
| George Hopkins | Democratic | 1858 | 1859 | Virginia |
| Thomas Corwin | Republican | 1859 | 1861 | Ohio |
| John Crittenden | Union Democratic | 1861 | 1863 | Kentucky |
| Henry Davis | Unconditional Union | 1863 | 1865 | Maryland |
| Nathaniel Banks | Republican | 1865 | 1872 | Massachusetts |
| Leonard Myers | Republican | 1872 | 1873 | Pennsylvania |
| Godlove Orth | Republican | 1873 | 1875 | Indiana |
| Thomas Swann | Democratic | 1875 | 1879 | Maryland |
| Samuel Cox | Democratic | 1879 | 1881 | New York |
| Charles Williams | Republican | 1881 | 1883 | Wisconsin |
| Andrew Curtin | Democratic | 1883 | 1885 | Pennsylvania |
| Perry Belmont | Democratic | 1885 | 1888 | New York |
| James McCreary | Democratic | 1888 | 1889 | Kentucky |
| Robert Hitt | Republican | 1889 | 1891 | Illinois |
| James Blount | Democratic | 1891 | 1893 | Georgia |
| James McCreary | Democratic | 1893 | 1895 | Kentucky |
| Robert Hitt | Republican | 1895 | 1906 | Illinois |
| Robert Cousins | Republican | 1907 | 1909 | Iowa |
| James Perkins | Republican | 1909 | 1910 | New York |
| David Foster | Republican | 1910 | 1911 | Vermont |
| William Sulzer | Democratic | 1911 | 1912 | New York |
| Charles Smith | Democratic | 1912 | 1913 | New York |
| Henry Flood | Democratic | 1913 | 1919 | Virginia |
| Stephen Porter | Republican | 1919 | 1930 | Pennsylvania |
| Henry Temple | Republican | 1930 | 1931 | Pennsylvania |
| John Linthicum | Democratic | 1931 | 1932 | Maryland |
| Sam McReynolds | Democratic | 1932 | 1939 | Tennessee |
| Sol Bloom | Democratic | 1939 | 1947 | New York |
| Charles Eaton | Republican | 1947 | 1949 | New Jersey |
| Sol Bloom | Democratic | 1949 | New York | |
| John Kee | Democratic | 1949 | 1951 | West Virginia |
| James Richards | Democratic | 1951 | 1953 | South Carolina |
| Robert Chiperfield | Republican | 1953 | 1955 | Illinois |
| James Richards | Democratic | 1955 | 1957 | South Carolina |
| Thomas Gordon | Democratic | 1957 | 1959 | Illinois |
| Thomas Morgan | Democratic | 1959 | 1977 | Pennsylvania |
| Clement Zablocki | Democratic | 1977 | 1983 | Wisconsin |
| Dante Fascell | Democratic | 1983 | 1993 | Florida |
| Lee Hamilton | Democratic | 1993 | 1995 | Indiana |
| Benjamin Gilman | Republican | 1995 | 2001 | New York |
| Henry Hyde | Republican | 2001 | 2007 | Illinois |
| Tom Lantos | Democratic | 2007 | 2008 | California |
| Howard Berman | Democratic | 2008 | 2011 | California |
| Ileana Ros-Lehtinen | Republican | 2011 | 2013 | Florida |
| Ed Royce | Republican | 2013 | 2019 | California |
| Eliot Engel | Democratic | 2019 | 2021 | New York |
| Gregory Meeks | Democratic | 2021 | 2023 | New York |
| Michael McCaul | Republican | 2023 | 2025 | Texas |
| Brian Mast | Republican | 2025 | present | Florida |
| Name | Party | Start | End | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sol Bloom | Democratic | 1947 | 1949 | New York |
| Charles Eaton | Republican | 1949 | 1953 | New Jersey |
| James Richards | Democratic | 1953 | 1955 | South Carolina |
| Robert Chiperfield | Republican | 1953 | 1963 | Illinois |
| Frances Bolton | Republican | 1963 | 1969 | Ohio |
| Ross Adair | Republican | 1969 | 1971 | Indiana |
| William Mailliard | Republican | 1971 | 1974 | California |
| John Erlenborn | Republican | 1974 | 1975 | Illinois |
| William Broomfield | Republican | 1975 | 1993 | Michigan |
| Benjamin Gilman | Republican | 1993 | 1995 | New York |
| Lee Hamilton | Democratic | 1995 | 1999 | Indiana |
| Sam Gejdenson | Democratic | 1999 | 2001 | Connecticut |
| Tom Lantos | Democratic | 2001 | 2007 | California |
| Ileana Ros-Lehtinen | Republican | 2007 | 2011 | Florida |
| Howard Berman | Democratic | 2011 | 2013 | California |
| Eliot Engel | Democratic | 2013 | 2019 | New York |
| Michael McCaul | Republican | 2019 | 2023 | Texas |
| Gregory Meeks | Democratic | 2023 | present | New York |
Previous rosters
118th Congress
| Majority | Minority |
|---|---|
|
|
Resolutions electing members: H.Res. 14 (Chair), H.Res. 15 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 80 (R), H.Res. 87 (D), H.Res. 76 (removing Omar), H.Res. 102 (D), H.Res. 205 (D), H.Res. 871 (D)
- Subcommittees
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
|---|---|---|
| Africa | John James (R-MI) | Sara Jacobs (D-CA) |
| Europe | Thomas Kean Jr. (R-NJ) | Bill Keating (D-MA) |
| The Indo-Pacific | Young Kim (R-CA) | Ami Bera (D-CA) |
| The Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia | Joe Wilson (R-SC) | Dean Phillips (D-MN) |
| Western Hemisphere | Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) | Joaquin Castro (D-TX) |
| Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations | Chris Smith (R-NJ) | Susan Wild (D-PA) |
| Oversight and Accountability | Brian Mast (R-FL) | Jason Crow (D-CO) |
117th Congress
| Majority | Minority |
|---|---|
|
|
Resolutions electing members: H.Res. 9 (Chair), H.Res. 10 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 62 (D), H.Res. 63 (R), H.Res. 146 (R), H.Res. 1471 (D)
- Subcommittees
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
|---|---|---|
| Africa, Global Health and Global Human Rights | Karen Bass (D-CA) | Chris Smith (R-NJ) |
| Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia and Nonproliferation | Ami Bera (D-CA) | Steve Chabot (R-OH) |
| Europe, Energy, the Environment and Cyber | Bill Keating (D-MA) | Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) |
| Middle East, North Africa and Global Counterterrorism | Ted Deutch (D-FL) | Joe Wilson (R-SC) |
| International Development, International Organizations and Global Corporate Social Impact | Joaquin Castro (D-TX) | Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) |
| Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, Migration and International Economic Policy | Albio Sires (D-NJ) | Mark Green (R-TN) |
116th Congress
| Majority | Minority |
|---|---|
|
|
Sources: H.Res. 24 (Chair), H.Res. 25 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 57 (D), H.Res. 68 (R), H.Res. 1072 (R)
- Subcommittees
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
|---|---|---|
| Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations | Karen Bass (D-CA) | Chris Smith (R-NJ) |
| Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation | Ami Bera (D-CA) | Ted Yoho (R-FL) |
| Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment | Bill Keating (D-MA) | Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) |
| Middle East, North Africa and International Terrorism | Ted Deutch (D-FL) | Joe Wilson (R-SC) |
| Oversight and Investigations | Joaquin Castro (D-TX) | Lee Zeldin (R-NY) |
| Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, and Trade | Albio Sires (D-NJ) | Francis Rooney (R-FL) |
115th Congress
| Majority | Minority |
|---|---|
|
|
Sources: H.Res. 6 (Chair), H.Res. 7 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 45 (D), H.Res. 51 (R) and H.Res. 52 (D)
See also
wikipedia, wiki, encyclopedia, book, library, article, read, free download, Information about United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, What is United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs? What does United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs mean?