U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting a comprehensive review of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) process and the Department of Defense’s Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI) program. The request focuses on whether these foreign investment and ownership safeguards operate with sufficient rigor to protect national security and ensure compliance with mitigation agreements. The proposed GAO evaluation would assess whether compliance officials have appropriate national security experience or are selected based on commercial ties, and whether staffing, oversight structures, and conflict-of-interest screening are adequate. It also asks GAO to examine whether mitigation work is concentrated among a narrow set of firms or individuals and whether current CFIUS and FOCI practices reflect a security-first approach or have been influenced by other considerations, including potential redundancies or shortcomings and the effectiveness of mechanisms used to enforce agreed mitigations.
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs 2025-08-06
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs calls for a comprehensive GAO review of CFIUS and Defense Department FOCI safeguards
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has asked the Government Accountability Office to review the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the Department of Defense’s Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence program. The review will assess the rigor of these processes in protecting national security, staffing adequacy, oversight, and mitigation enforcement effectiveness. It will also examine potential conflicts of interest and whether current practices prioritize security.