Anti-Trump foreign policy group releases lawmaker rankings on global affairs

An organization founded to oppose former President Trump’s “America first” foreign policy released on Wednesday its scorecard for how Senate and House lawmakers align with its global affairs priorities.

Foreign Policy for America, a nonpartisan advocacy group, ranked all lawmakers from the 116th Congress on a scale of zero to 100 on dozens of policy issues where it takes a position.

The scorecard is an effort to better engage voters on issues such as immigration and refugees, U.S. policy toward Iran and Yemen, climate change, global health, democracy and human rights.

The group also runs a political action committee. The scorecard serves as a preview for where it is likely to focus its efforts ahead of the critical 2022 midterm election.

Dozens of Senate races are expected to be competitive as Republicans seek control of the upper chamber and aim to overtake Democrats’ seven-seat majority in the House.

While Foreign Policy for America says it is nonpartisan, its scores and support are heavily favored toward Democrats. Fifteen members of its board of directors and advisory board have entered the Biden administration. 

This includes Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. special envoy for Iran Rob Malley and State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

Andrew Albertson, the organization’s executive director, said he expects much of the group’s legislative priorities to be a focus of the Biden administration. 

“This has to be a year of action, where leaders in the House and Senate work together to take big steps forward — from ramping up investment in diplomacy to taking bold action on climate to restoring Congress’s constitutional role in authorizing military force,” he told The Hill.  

It is the group’s second scorecard on lawmakers. Grades were determined on several factors, including how representatives voted for a particular piece of legislation, their support on certain bills if it did not advance to a floor vote, and scored bill sponsorship as an indicator of where each senator or House member stood on an issue.  

No Republicans received a perfect score, which is denoted by a 100, while 129 Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate received a perfect score. Only 38 lawmakers received a 100 in the 115th Congress.

Albertson pointed out key areas of bipartisan cooperation that push back on some of Trump’s most controversial policies. Those include passage of the war powers resolution amid the risk of U.S. conflict with Iran after the killing of top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani; rejection of budget cuts for the State Department and USAID; and ending U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia’s offensive in Yemen.

“On issue after issue, we saw bipartisan majorities come together to check the president and defend our tradition of principled American engagement in the world,” Albertson said. 

Foreign Policy for America is already looking ahead to 2022, with the political action arm of its organization — Foreign Policy for America Action Network — endorsing four incumbent Democrats.

These include former State Department officials Reps. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.); former CIA agent Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), and former professional football player Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas). 

All received a 100 on their scorecard for the 116th Congress except Spanberger.

She received a 95 for not joining as a co-sponsor of the Global Health, Empowerment and Rights Act when it was introduced. The legislation aims to end the so-called Mexico City policy that restricts funding for global nongovernmental organizations that discuss abortion as a family planning option for women. 

While a politician’s foreign policy rarely decides elections, Americans are increasingly invested in how the U.S. engages with the world.

Foreign policy was a key 2020 election issue for 57 percent of registered voters, according to a Pew Research Poll.

And a Gallup poll from February found that while a majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the position of the U.S. in the world today (62 percent), a majority also believe leaders of countries around the world have respect for President Biden (58 percent).

Only 37 percent said world leaders respected former President Trump when the poll was conducted during the same time period in 2020. 

— Updated at 10:53 a.m.