Can Dems and GOP get along on China?

With help from John Sakellariadis, Maggie Miller and Daniel Lippman
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FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — A former top Biden official headed to Capitol Hill today to help Democrats strategize about areas for bipartisan cooperation on China — likely a tall order these days even though there are plenty of Republican China hawks on the Hill.
JAKE SULLIVAN, former national security adviser, met with Democrats on the House China Select Committee in a closed-door meeting on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The main topics of discussion were how Congress could support strengthening chip export controls and sustaining Taiwanese security assistance, the two individuals said. (Both were granted anonymity as they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the contents of the closed-door meeting.)
The meeting underscores how Democrats, even in the minority and out of the White House, are working behind the scenes to map out new lanes — however narrow — for bipartisan policies to toughen America's stance on China that Trump's Republican party could get behind.
Who Democrats in Congress lean on in the coming months and years as they work to rebuild their party's foreign policy platform — whether it's centrist Dems like Sullivan or more progressive foreign policy voices in the future — could give us more insights into that question.
The meeting was convened by Rep. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-Ill.), the ranking member on the China panel. The China Select committee, established just over two years ago, has historically been a small haven of bipartisanship in a Washington otherwise gripped by toxic partisanship.
Indeed, one of the few things that former President JOE BIDEN and new President DONALD TRUMP's teams agree on is that China constitutes the top security threat to the United States. So if Dems want to move the dial on any policies anywhere in Trump's Washington, China is probably a good (or an only) place to start.
Krishnamoorthi and House China committee chair JOHN MOOLENAAR (R-Mich.) have a cordial working relationship, even if some longtime denizens of Capitol Hill question whether the China committee has lost the mojo that defined its first few years of existence.
But the Trump administration wants to hit China through tariffs, and Trump himself has already signaled he's hesitant on defending Taiwan — and on banning the Chinese-owned social media giant TikTok, even though China hawks in Washington say the app poses a national security and privacy risk to Americans.
Sullivan and Trump's national security adviser MIKE WALTZ established a good working rapport during the transition, but it's not clear which if any Democrats the Republicans will listen to on matters of foreign policy these days.
The Inbox
ISHIBA'S FIRST TRUMP TEST: Japanese Prime Minister SHIGERU ISHIBA visited the White House to meet with Trump today in their first face-to-face meeting and an opening test of how Trump will treat America's closest allies as he settles into the Oval office.
Trump said he hasn't taken the idea of slapping tariffs on Tokyo, one of the United States' most important allies in Asia, off the table but says he hopes to downsize the U.S. trade deficit with Japan.
But if timing matters, Japan has a leg up on other U.S. allies nervous about the next Trump era and what it means for their security and trade. Ishiba is just the second foreign leader to visit the White House during Trump's new term, after Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU on Thursday.
Trump's team has made it clear they want to keep deepening ties with Indo-Pacific allies including the Quad (with Japan, Australia and India) — as a way of combating threats from China in the region. That makes Ishiba's meeting the latest sign that Japan may weather the coming Trump era relatively unscathed compared to others.
SUDAN'S ARMY MAKES GAINS: Sudan's armed forces today said they recaptured large parts of the east African country's capital city, Khartoum, after years of fighting in the country's civil war. The news means the Sudanese army may finally get an upper hand in the conflict after months of relative deadlock; it says it has the momentum to fully break a two-year-long siege on the capital by the rival paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.
Fighting between the two factions has torn apart the country and pushed it into what is considered the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Both sides have been accused of war crimes and the United States has said the RSF committed genocide.
Sudan's civil war has also become the locus of proxy powers competing for influence, with the United Arab Emirates backing the RSF and other powers such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia backing the Sudanese armed forces.
TRUMP'S MAN IN SERBIA? President Donald Trump is considering nominating former Illinois Gov. ROD BLAGOJEVICH, who served eight years in prison on corruption charges, to be U.S. ambassador to Serbia, our own Eric Bazail-Eimil and Amy report. The decision is far from final, with former Arizona Attorney General MARK BRNOVICH also in the running. If 'Blago' as he is perhaps best known, were to be confirmed, it would see the U.S. dispatch a former senior official convicted of corruption as the emissary to a country that has long grappled with — corruption.
DRINKS WITH NATSEC DAILY: At the end of every long, hard week, we like to highlight how a prominent member of the national security scene prefers to unwind with a drink.
Today, we're featuring AMY MACKINNON, POLITICO's brand new intelligence and national security reporter (who is also very generously co-authoring today's newsletter as Eric gets a well-deserved break!)
Amy's drink of choice? 'A good gin and tonic, a cold pint or a nip of whisky can cover most occasions,' she says. As a fellow G&T fan, your lead NatSec Daily author couldn't agree more.
Plus she can't forget her homeland of Scotland when she thinks about her ideal drinking spot: 'An icy cold pint of Innis and Gunn lager in a Glasgow pub with good friends. Heaven.'
And what about during these cold winter months in Washington, an entire ocean away from the homeland? 'I love a smoky whisky, particularly in winter. A friend gifted me a bottle of Bruichladdich's Octomore a few years ago and it really packs a punch.'
Drinks that pack a punch, what could be better on a Friday? Cheers to you, Amy!
IT'S FRIDAY! WELCOME TO THE WEEKEND: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily! This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at rgramer@politico.com and ebazail@politico.com, and follow Robbie and Eric on X @RobbieGramer and @ebazaileimil.
While you're at it, follow the rest of POLITICO's global security team: @dave_brown24, @HeidiVogt, @jessicameyers, @RosiePerper, @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @ak_mack, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary,@reporterjoe, @JackDetsch, @samuelskove, @magmill95, and @johnnysaks130
Keystrokes
DOGE COMES FOR CISA: The federal cyber nerds on the front lines of America's digital battlefield against Russia, China and Iran have officially been offered a version of the Trump administration's deferred resignation plan, as our own John Sakellariadis and Maggie Miller report today in Morning Cyber (for Pros!).
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, was originally exempt on national security grounds from the big resignation plan put forward by ELON MUSK and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency scrutinizing all federal agencies. But CISA pulled a 180 and is now offering the deal.
A former senior cybersecurity official, JOHN COSTELLO, warned that if large swaths of cyber staff decide to accept the resignation offers, then the agency risks 'exacerbating CISA's cyber talent gap — which runs counter to the Trump administration's objective in countering and reducing the Chinese cyber threat.'
The Complex
PAPERWORK WOES FOR DOD PICKS: The confirmation schedule for Trump's nominees to serve in top roles in the Pentagon remains conspicuously open. The big reason? Paperwork. Nineteen picks are awaiting confirmation hearings, and SASC leaders are blaming the backlog on delays in required paperwork for nominees, such as financial disclosures, ethics agreements and FBI background checks.
'We don't have their paperwork,' SASC Chair ROGER WICKER told our own Joe Gould. 'We're going to schedule the hearings when we get paperwork.'
The committee has heard from only two Trump nominees so far, Defense Secretary PETE HEGSETH and DAN DRISCOLL, who was tapped by the president to serve as secretary of the Army. Driscoll, who has bipartisan support, is still awaiting a floor vote in the Senate.
ON THE HILL
'THE USAID BETRAYAL': The chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. BRIAN MAST (R-Fla.) is holding a hearing next week on the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle USAID titled 'The USAID betrayal' as our colleague Joe Gould reports today.
The hearing set for next Thursday will feature former Florida Republican Rep. TED YOHO and BILL STEIGER, who served as the agency's chief of staff during the first Trump administration. The move isn't likely to mollify infuriated Democrats, who have railed against the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle a federally codified agency, calling it unconstitutional and warning of dire humanitarian consequences. Democrats have demanded an urgent hearing with Secretary of State MARCO RUBIO and PETER MAROCCO, State's director of foreign assistance and acting deputy USAID director.
If lawmakers are looking for ammunition, they can point to a lawsuit filed Thursday and updated with new affidavits today. In it, USAID employees writing under pseudonyms described extraordinary upheaval to their lives, safety and personal well-being by the abrupt shutdown of the agency, our own Kyle Cheney writes in.
One, who said she was 32 weeks pregnant, said her prearranged medical evacuation to Washington had been disrupted. Another described a disruption to medical care for his young children with special needs and facing the risk of eviction and unemployment prospect of sudden unemployment. 'This experience has been degrading, dehumanizing, and traumatizing for my family,' the employee, identified as 'Eric Doe,' wrote in an affidavit.
SOUTH AFRICA BACKLASH: Republicans are ramping up criticism of South Africa after Rubio said he planned to ditch the upcoming G20 meeting the country is hosting and accused South Africa of 'anti-Americanism.'
The latest knock: South Africa reportedly bowed to Chinese pressure to remove Taiwan's de facto embassy from its capital. Sen. JIM RISCH (R-Idaho), the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reacted to the move on X, saying 'South Africa is a stooge for U.S. adversaries China & Russia, and it continues to bully Taiwan. This is unacceptable and it's time to put maximum pressure on' the current government.
Broadsides
MORE QUESTIONABLE CONDOM MATH: CNN anchor BORIS SANCHEZ was left stunned when Georgia Rep. BUDDY CARTER (R-Ga.) claimed live on air that the U.S. had earmarked $15 million in funds to provide condoms to the Taliban.
'Sir, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa — $15 million? $15 million for condoms for the Taliban?' asked Sanchez.
The CNN anchor asked Carter if he was conflating previous statements from Trump and the White House spokesperson KAROLINE LEAVITT about tens of millions of dollars being used to send condoms to Gaza, a claim which several fact-checks have found no evidence to support. 'I am not. I am not. This is the type of thing that they're funding,' said Carter, who sits on the DOGE subcommittee in Congress.
Transitions
— ALEXEI BULAZEL is now the senior director for cyber on the National Security Council, the most senior cybersecurity role in President Donald Trump's White House.
— CAMILLE STEWART GLOSTER, former deputy national cyber director for technology and ecosystem security under the Biden administration, has taken on the role of senior director of AI and resilience services at cybersecurity company Crowdstrike.
What to Read
— JAY CASPIAN KANG, The New Yorker: The Rise of China's Soft Power
— JOSEPH MENN, The Washington Post: U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users' encrypted accounts
— DAHLIA SCHEINDLIN, Ha'aretz: Euphoria and Fury: How Scenes of Returning Hostages Could Spark the Next Israeli-Palestinian War
Monday Today
— Atlantic Council, 9 a.m.: Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti: Shifts in the Horn of Africa
— Foundation for Defense of Democracies, 12 p.m.: Turkey's Neo-Ottoman Resurgence
Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who we're working with lawmakers to deter from further aggression.
Thanks to our producer, Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing, who is briefing the relevant committees on the threat posed by Heidi.

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