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WASHINGTON DC — In case you missed it, Kate Ackley from Bloomberg Government reported on the path forward for the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party under the new leadership of Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI).
Read key excerpts from the story below or read the full piece HERE.
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Rep. John Moolenaar, the new head of a House committee probing business ties and potential threats from China, might not court media attention like his predecessor Mike Gallagher but still draws a hard line against the Asian nation, according to lobbyists familiar with the panel.
Moolenaar of Michigan, Feehery said, seems “more of a workhorse than a show horse.”
Despite the top personnel change, the mission of the select committee, which started last year to investigate corporate ties to China and possible national security threats, will remain the same. The panel can issue reports and legislative recommendations, but does not have the authority to advance bills. It was set up for the current Congress but could be renewed.
Corporate interests see the House Select Committee on Competition with China, best known for taking on TikTok Inc., remaining a power center in Washington as it investigates Beijing’s actions.
Already, Moolenaar and the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), asked the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday to probe whether TikTok violated a children’s online privacy law when the social media app mobilized its users to lobby against a bill to force it to separate from its Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, or face a ban in the United States.
Moolenaar recently outlined additional priorities for the committee, including stopping fentanyl from China and countering “malign influence” efforts from the country’s government, according to the committee’s updated website.
“The Select Committee will continue to carry out critical bipartisan policymaking and investigations that expose the threats posed by the CCP,” he said in the statement. “We will work tirelessly to deter CCP military aggression against Taiwan and our allies in the Indo-Pacific. We will prevent the CCP from stealing our technology, co-opting businesses, and harassing people on American soil. We will examine the most critical areas of our supply chain so we can reduce our dependence on the CCP.”
Lobbyists said that in their interactions with the panel under Gallagher’s leadership, they found it difficult to shape the agenda. Even after meetings between clients and the committee, they said little changed about the panel’s direction or focus related to specific companies.
“The China Select Committee was designed to address serious, long-term challenges in a deliberate and collaborative way,” said Leganski, who is now a lobbyist with the firm Harbinger Strategies, in an email. “John Moolenaar’s skillset and track record align perfectly with this mission.”
Keiser said Moolenaar is “certainly no dove on China.”
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