{"id":58299,"date":"2019-02-12T09:00:57","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T09:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/12\/nancy-pelosi-named-in-big-us-delegation-to-munich-forum-but-shutdown-looms\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:19:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:19:59","slug":"nancy-pelosi-named-in-big-us-delegation-to-munich-forum-but-shutdown-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2019\/02\/12\/nancy-pelosi-named-in-big-us-delegation-to-munich-forum-but-shutdown-looms\/","title":{"rendered":"Nancy Pelosi named in big US delegation to Munich forum, but government shutdown looms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. is set to send its largest congressional delegation yet to the 2019 Munich Security Conference<\/a>, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence, but it could all fall apart if talks to avert a government shutdown<\/a> fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annual meeting of world leaders and experts in the Bavarian capital, from Feb. 15-17, is set to host the most U.S. lawmakers since the conference\u2019s inception in 1963. But several lawmakers told Defense News last week they will cancel if Congress cannot reach a deal on President Donald Trump\u2019s demand for a border wall and legislation to fund the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the many world leaders expected are German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. The conference typically is marked by high-powered bilateral meetings as well as public speeches and panel discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. delegation is due to include acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan<\/a>; Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla.; Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho; Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be striking for Pelosi, who is second in line for presidential succession, to step onto the world stage as Democrats are using their new majority in the House to influence foreign policy. House Democrats last month passed<\/a> a bipartisan resolution to bar a U.S. exit from NATO, and they\u2019re planning a vote to halt U.S. involvement in Yemen\u2019s civil war. The stage is also set for a probe of Trump\u2019s private meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. lawmakers are not expected to speak with one voice, but some are emphasizing Congress as a force in U.S. foreign policy, particularly since the Trump administration has lost several figures who were viewed as backstops to the president\u2019s isolationist leanings: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis<\/a>, Chief of Staff John Kelly<\/a> and national security adviser H.R. McMaster<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s very little internal check left within this administration. The Congress, and especially the House, is the check now. We can restrain some of the worst instincts of the administration and be an alternative voice,\u201d said Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., one of a handful of House Democrats planning to make the trip. He is a former assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor under President Barack Obama.<\/p>\n\n\n\t