Senate Democrats’ next foreign policy leader charts new course for party

Ongoing clashes over diplomatic nominees have frayed relationships at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in recent years. Jeanne Shaheen has her own methods for breaking the gridlock.

The mild-mannered New Hampshire Democrat used a 2021 nominations hearing to vent her frustration about the Senate’s lack of response to an attack on a girls’ school in Afghanistan. Decrying her inability to advance even a symbolic condemnation of the violence, Shaheen fumed that if “this committee cannot make a statement on what is happening in the world … it undermines our ability to influence events.”

Shaheen recounted the episode in an interview with Semafor to explain how she’ll approach her historic ascension on the storied Foreign Relations panel — once she assumes its top Democratic spot in January, she’ll be the committee’s highest-ranking woman ever.

“None of the men on the committee wanted to do anything. And I basically threw a fit,” she recalled. Women in power “have different life experiences,” she added, making clear that she’ll dedicate specific attention to issues important to them.

Shaheen’s hearing outburst, which ultimately shook loose the stalled condemnation, is notable for another reason: It shows that her centrist reputation won’t stop her from picking fights, particularly when she’s provoked. A former governor of an often-purple state, Shaheen is a frequent presence in the Senate’s bipartisan working groups but she’s also willing to battle with her foes, right on the floor for all to see.

Those attributes will be critical to restoring the Foreign Relations Committee’s past tendency to work across party lines. And Shaheen will have her hands full immediately as the top hand helping her party navigate the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, where she’s already warning the world to guard against a resurgence of ISIS.

That’s on top of shaping congressional policies on Israel, Ukraine and China while trying to project stability to the world as the Biden administration transitions to President-elect Donald Trump’s still-forming foreign policy team.

Shaheen is already negotiating with Foreign Relations Chair Jim Risch, R-Idaho, about avoiding undue delays for Trump’s top diplomatic picks, including Sen. Marco Rubio’s nomination as secretary of state. She’s also talking to fellow Democrats on the panel about the importance of Trump having his team in place when it comes to career diplomats.

“They’re going to be acted on in a timely way,” Shaheen said. “That’s in the best interest of the country.”

There’s a big asterisk to that approach, though: More politically motivated ambassadorial nominees — like Trump’s pick for envoy to France, his in-law relative Charles Kushner — are “a different story” and will get more scrutiny from committee Democrats.

She’s also not going to guarantee support for any Trump pick, including her longtime colleague Rubio, this early on in the confirmation season. (She did say “he’s got the skills and the qualifications to do the job.”)

Shaheen’s elevation will mark a new era for the committee in many ways, after its Democratic leadership oscillated between retiring Ben Cardin and indictment-plagued now-former Sen. Bob Menendez. She is there to both provide stability and to turn the page.

And she hopes to put the bad blood of the past nominee wars behind her. That does not mean Risch expects her to roll over; he called her “really tough.”

“She’s smart, she’s articulate. And not ideology-driven to the point where it’s a problem,” he said in a separate interview.

She’ll have to use that acumen to help her party get past its own fractures over foreign policy, particularly on Israel. The 77-year-old voted to block a weapons transfer to Israel in November, aligning with progressives and breaking with Cardin.

Shaheen explained that vote as a show of frustration with a conflict that “makes me angry,” while noting she’s always supported Israel’s right to defend itself. The Biden administration, she lamented, is “too slow in pushing Netanyahu to come to a ceasefire.”

“We know that Israel is holding up humanitarian aid in northern Gaza. There are [hundreds of thousands of] people that are on the verge of starvation,” Shaheen said. “It’s not acceptable for a country that calls itself a democracy, that says it’s in support of human rights and freedom for people, to allow that to happen.”

She acknowledged that Trump may not share her view on Gaza. When it comes to Syria, they may find some more common ground.

In the interview, which occurred before the Assad regime’s downfall, Shaheen warned that the Syrian rebels were offshoots of terrorists and said that more US involvement did not make sense. Trump also cautioned the US to stay out of it.

“There aren’t any really good options, because there aren’t any good guys in Syria,” Shaheen told Semafor then, calling for a focus on humanitarian assistance, protecting US troops and stopping a revival of ISIS.