Ranking Member Shaheen Joins the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) for Fireside Chat Following the Release of Major Committee Report Examining the Trump Administration’s Global Retreat and China’s Strategic Gains

WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined Dr. John J. Hamre, President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), for a fireside discussion on the future of U.S. soft power and competition with China. During the event, Ranking Member Shaheen discussed yesterday’s release of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats’ new report, “The Price of Retreat: America Cedes Global Leadership to China,” which examines how the Trump Administration’s global retreat has weakened U.S. diplomatic, development and soft power institutions and has given China an opportunity to expand its global leadership at America’s expense. 

"One of the things, I think, where there has been strong bipartisan support for since I got to the Senate – and it’s increased in recent years – has been the idea that the biggest threat to the United States, to democracies, is China,” said Ranking Member Shaheen. “It’s a threat both economically, and it’s a threat militarily. That is a perspective the Trump Administration claims to share. But what we have seen since Donald Trump took office is a series of decisions that actually undermine our ability to compete with China and to stem the threat that it poses, not just to the West, but to democracies everywhere.” 

“This report, I think, is significant because it lays out the policy decisions that have been made by the Trump Administration since the President took office,” she continued. “And it does it in a way that gives us time to reverse some of these policy decisions, if we can get support to do that.”

Excerpts of the Ranking Member’s discussion are below. You can watch Senator Shaheen’s full remarks at the CSIS event HERE. 

On Ranking Member Shaheen’s new minority report: “I think [the report] lays out in very stark terms, the case for why we need to reverse so many of the policies of the Trump Administration. Whether it's the tariffs that are aimed at our allies and partners; the dramatic cuts to foreign assistance, [...] the reversal of participation in international bodies, which undermines our ability to play in the global environment; the cut backs in the information space, which allows us to counter Chinese propaganda. There are so many things that are detailed in this report that show why we need to reverse course.” 

On the State Department Reorganization: “Well, I wouldn’t call it a reorganization because a reorganization assumes there is a thoughtful strategic process that’s in place. No business would do what the ‘DOGE boys’ and Elon Musk and this Administration have done to the federal government, whether we’re talking about the State Department or any other agency. There has been very little thought into what is trying to be accomplished, whether it will really save any money – and by the way, I would argue it’s not saving any money. And what the outcome is going to be, how we are going to be more efficient and effective as a result. Listen, I was governor. I know we can always make public agencies more effective, but you don’t do that by just coming in and arbitrarily cutting people and programs. You do that by assessing what’s effective, what’s making a difference, what’s in the interest of the American people and of our economy. And none of that has been taken into consideration.” 

On why soft power matters to the American people: "I talk about the way that we are affected here at home by what happens abroad. And the fact that foreign assistance has made up only 1% of the U.S. government’s budget and most people think it’s much bigger than that because some people – like Elon Musk and his chainsaw – have used it as a real whipping boy for whatever their concerns are. So, I talk about the connection to global health, that diseases don’t stop at borders. And anyone who lived through the Ebola scare, as we've looked at what happened with Bird Flu, as we think about COVID... people understand that is the case. People understand the economic implications when intellectual property is stolen by China and there’s no one to try and recoup that. People understand when you talk about how many people in the United States are victims of fraud that is being conducted in Africa and Asia and other parts of the world against the United States and Americans, and the fact that the Trump Administration is dismantling the unit that helps to go after the fraudsters that are milking Americans of millions of dollars. So, when you make that case, people understand that.” 

On bipartisan support for PEPFAR: “I think what I will hear is most of the Republican members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, not all of them, agree with a lot of what’s in [the report]. One of the areas I have had a lot of conversations with my Republican colleagues about has been the PEPFAR program—something started, as you know by George W. Bush when he was president. It's been really effective in saving millions of lives. And that's being essentially discontinued under the Trump Administration. All of the prevention aspects of the program are being eliminated. And I know that my Republican colleagues don’t support that. I have had a number of conversations, and they would like to see that funding restored—that's one of the things being rescinded as part of the recissions package this week. But sadly, they're afraid of Donald Trump and most of them are not willing to do anything publicly.” 

On China stepping in on the global stage: “Within days of the dramatic closure of USAID and the dramatic cuts to foreign assistance, China was already labeling the United States as the unreliable partner as they talked to countries, particularly in the Indo Pacific, but all over. Within months, they started moving in and picking up programs that we had discontinued funding for. While we are talking about reducing our diplomatic footprint, China is expanding theirs."

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