McCaul Statement on White House Re-Designating the Houthis as SDGTs

Washington, D.C. – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul has released the following statement in response to the Biden administration’s failure to designate the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), which brings more impact and more penalties than the specially designated global terrorists (SDGT) designation. The Biden White House briefed the media before Congress on this designation, showing a real lack of seriousness in this administration’s national security policy.

“The Biden administration’s decision to remove the Houthis’ FTO and SDGT designations in 2021 was a huge mistake, and I have repeatedly called on the administration to restore them. Yet, even after months of unprovoked Houthi attacks on U.S. service members, U.S. interests, and global shipping, the Biden administration only re-designated the Houthis as SDGTs – not as a FTO. It is past time for this administration to take a clear-eyed view of the situation and re-designate the Iran-backed Houthis as a FTO.”