Legislature

Congress' national security brain drain

Congress’s national security leadership is facing its biggest shakeup in years as some of its longest-serving and most influential members retire, seek other offices or risk losing their seats in tough reelections.

The potential brain drain on key House and Senate oversight panels, mostly among GOP lawmakers like Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), comes as conflicts in hot spots like Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan and a series of terrorist attacks heighten worries about threats from abroad. It’s also happening at a time when one of the biggest anxieties about Republican standard-bearer Donald Trump is his lack of experience in national defense.

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The sweep, which would also impact some prominent Democrats, is already underway with the surprising primary loss Tuesday of Rep. Randy Forbes of Virginia, one of the highest-ranking Republicans on the Armed Services Committee. But perhaps over a dozen key lawmakers could be gone by the time a new president is sworn in January — including McCain and his hawkish ally Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), who are both fighting for their political lives, as well as nine members on the influential House panel who have decided to run for the Senate or retire.