Congress seeks more control over North Africa counterterror program
Lawmakers want a coherent strategy for the desert region from the Donald Trump administration.
The House is set to vote on a bill this week that would formally institutionalize a North African counterterrorism program — and give lawmakers more control over the initiative.
The Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Act, sponsored by House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, directs the Donald Trump administration to coordinate on counterterror programs with several North African and Sahel governments.
The George W. Bush administration formally started the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP) in 2005, but McCaul’s bill makes it permanent. It also exerts greater congressional oversight over the program and pushes the Trump administration to clarify its strategy in the region.
“My bill codifies this partnership and allows the TSCTP to confront the ever-growing threat of terrorism in Africa,” McCaul wrote in an op-ed in The National Interest in September. “Furthermore, the bill requires the State Department, US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Defense Department to coordinate counterterrorism strategy with our African partners and deliver that strategy to Congress.”
