Congressman Michael McCaul set to become the first Texan Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee

AUSTIN, Texas (KBTX) - With the Republicans closing in on a House majority, Congressman Michael McCaul is ready for a new role on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

McCaul represents a recently reshaped District 10, which includes Brazos, Burleson, Madison, Grimes and Washington Counties.

Now that Election Day is over, he says there’s a lot of work to do.

“We have an economic crisis, a border crisis and an energy crisis, and I would also say a national security crisis,” he said.

If the Republicans take the House as expected, McCaul will become Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the first Texan ever to take on the role.

“My job is going to be looking at that the worldwide threats to the United States coming out of Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and how we deal with that issue,” explained McCaul.

He is also focused on China in terms of technology, and is looking to bring more manufacturing back to the U.S.

McCaul is the founder of the High Tech Caucus which focuses on keeping America’s tech sector strong and providing the domestic industry with support. The Congressman also helped write and pass the CHIPS for America Act which invested in domestic production of semiconductor chips.

While the country may not have seen the “red wave” Republicans were looking for, McCaul still sees the election as a win for his party.

“We’re going to win probably 225 to 230 seats, which is a far larger majority than Nancy Pelosi currently has in the Congress right now, and I anticipate that we will get the majority in the Senate, and that will enable us to pass bills to put on the president’s desk, and you know, he can only veto so much to fix these problems,” said the Congressman.

He hopes the President will taken a page out of former President Clinton’s book and work with the Republican Congress.

As for the next election, McCaul believes it’s too early to tell who will be getting the Republican party’s nomination for President, but he does have some advice from former President Trump saying, “I would advise him to wait until after the runoff in Georgia. Herschel Walker, you know if Herschel Walker wins as I anticipate he will, that be far more stronger for him to come out at that point in time then prematurely.”

McCaul added that there are a lot of other really qualified candidates and emphasized that the Presidency is “not a God-given right, you’ve got to work for it, and I think competition is always good.”

Watch the full interview in the player above.

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