The incoming chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is pledging a thorough accounting of how taxpayer dollars have been used by the State Department when he takes the reins of the influential panel next year.

Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., is expected to take the helm from current Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who is term-limited.

‘When you’re dealing with the State Department, it is dollars going to foreign companies, foreign countries, foreign NGOs and, like Afghanistan, foreign adversaries – the Taliban. And that needs – to have to use a word out there – a colonoscopy, to say the least,’ Mast told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

‘That will be the focus of the committee. That will be the focus of each and every subcommittee – is getting into each of the branches of the bureaus across the State Department, working with [Trump Secretary of State nominee Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.], of course, and … really having a way to put sunlight on this in a way that this [Biden] administration did not allow.’

Mast said he wants the State Department to be required to notify Congress of each grant it issues, ‘So we have eyes on where you’re sending these dollars, to third-party and fourth-party and fifth-party places abroad, and be able to [say], ‘No, that’s not one that we’re going to authorize.’’

The decorated Afghanistan war veteran won a crowded four-way race to succeed McCaul as the top Republican on the House committee overseeing the State Department and U.S. foreign relations.

He’s been in Congress for less time than the Republicans he ran against, but Mast has stood out as one of Trump’s most crucial allies in the 2024 presidential campaign.

Mast led the Veterans For Trump coalition and was a surrogate at several events related to service members.

The Florida Republican is also notably less hawkish on Ukraine than two of the Republicans he ran against: Reps. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., and Joe Wilson, R-S.C., as well as McCaul.

Like Trump, he’s critical of continued U.S. aid to Ukraine and has voted against supplemental funding in the past.

‘President Trump wants Ukraine to have victory. He wants this to absolutely be a reprimand [of] the actions of Russia and [President] Vladimir Putin, and he wants to bring this to an end promptly. He has a plan for doing that. He will execute that, and he will have every bit of my support in doing that as the authorizing side of foreign affairs for the House,’ Mast said.

He also pointed out his deep relationships with the Trump administration, including ties to Rubio and Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., the incoming national security adviser.

Asked if his ties to Trump were part of his argument to win the gavel, Mast said that it ‘certainly was.’

But his overall aim for the committee, Mast said, would be based on the principle of ‘Every diplomat and every dollar puts America first.’

‘If you’re a diplomat that’s out there apologizing for America and not putting America first, you’re going to be under our microscope. That’s for sure. And I hope that has a chilling effect on them,’ Mast said while pointing out that Rubio would likely be a partner in that goal.

‘But as we all know, when our colleagues get these opportunities to take over these agencies … you go in there with years and years and years of decades-long employees there that maybe are not ideologically aligned. Well, guess what? If you were one of the 15 people that were signing on to spending half a million American taxpayer dollars on atheism, then you should know that we’re looking for you.’

President-elect Trump’s pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, said Wednesday that he is seeking a ‘smooth transition’ to replace Christopher Wray, who had announced just moments earlier that he plans to step down from his post leading the bureau at the end of the Biden administration.

‘I look forward to a smooth transition,’ Patel told Fox News Digital on Wednesday in response to the announcement from Wray. ‘I will be ready to serve the American people on day one.’

Trump, during his first term as president, had tapped Wray to replace James Comey. Trump fired Comey in 2017, fewer than four years into his tenure.

Trump said earlier this month that he planned to replace Wray with Patel, a close ally of the president-elect. Patel served in the first Trump administration, both as a deputy assistant and as the senior director for counterterrorism. 

In a statement shared on Truth Social, Trump praised the news of Wray’s resignation, describing it as a ‘great day for America’ and a departure that would end what Trump has repeatedly criticized as the ‘Weaponization’ of the Justice Department. 

‘Kash Patel is the most qualified Nominee to lead the FBI in the Agency’s History, and is committed to helping ensure that Law, Order, and Justice will be brought back to our Country again, and soon,’ Trump added. 

The remarks from Patel and Trump came shortly after Wray told FBI employees on Wednesday he planned to step down from his position as FBI director at the end of President Biden’s tenure in January.

‘After weeks of careful thought, I’ve decided the right thing for the Bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current Administration in January and then step down,’ Wray told FBI employees, according to a copy of his prepared remarks. ‘My goal is to keep the focus on our mission — the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.’

This is a breaking news story. Check back shortly for updates.

After a number of key legislative priorities related to cracking down on China failed to make it into the yearly defense bill, Republicans are working on ways to get them signed into law before the end of the year. 

On Wednesday, the House will vote on the sprawling 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets policy plans for the Pentagon’s $895 billion budget. That legislation was negotiated between Republican and Democratic leadership in both the House and Senate and typically enjoys wide bipartisan support. 

And while the package will not advance legislation aimed at cracking down on U.S. dollars flowing toward Chinese Communist Party-affiliated companies, Republicans will push to include those provisions, which are a key priority for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in other must-pass legislation.

With a government funding deadline in 10 days, those measures could be included in a continuing resolution (CR), which would punt the funding deadline down the road and keep budgets at FY 2024 levels, multiple sources familiar with negotiations confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

‘During the course of negotiations on the annual defense bill, significant progress was made towards achieving consensus on provisions to counter China and strengthen our economic security. That momentum remains and more time is needed to get that important work done with the goal of passage before the end of the year,’ Johnson said in a statement. 

One provision that was left out would prevent the U.S. from investing in the development of military technologies, a way to codify a rule put forward by President Biden’s Treasury Department.

The rule prohibits U.S. financing of some China-based ventures and requires Americans to notify the government of their involvement in others. 

It restricts and monitors U.S. investments in artificial intelligence, computer chips and quantum computing, all of which have a dual use in the defense and commercial sectors. 

The rule seeks to limit the access ‘countries of concern,’ like China, including Hong Kong and Macao, have to U.S. dollars to fund the development of high-level technologies like next-generation missile systems and fighter jets they could then utilize for their own military. It’s set to take effect Jan. 2.  

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., demanded that outbound investments piece not be included in the negotiated NDAA, three sources familiar with the negotiations confirmed. 

Some mused that Democrats put up a fight over China provisions because they were frustrated with another provision Republicans insisted on including: a ban on military health care providers from paying for transgender operations like sex changes for dependent minors if it would leave them sterile.

Politico was first to report about the back-and-forth. 

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he would not vote for the legislation – which includes big pay raises for junior troops – over the transgender provision. 

And in a relief for Chinese biotechnology companies, the Biosecure Act, which prohibits the U.S. government from contracting with companies that do business with a ‘biotechnology company of concern,’ has been left out of the NDAA. 

Three sources familiar with the negotiations told Fox News Digital that Reps. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., stood in the way of the legislation’s inclusion in the negotiated defense bill.

Raskin could not be reached for comment on his opposition. 

McGovern opposed the bill when it came up for a stand-alone vote in the House. 

‘The Biosecure Act, is a weak bill, and as written, it could actually make the problem even worse,’ he said in a statement. 

‘First, naming specific companies will create a ‘whack-a-mole’ situation where entities can change their name and reincorporate to evade sanctions,’ he went on. ‘Second, it’s totally wrong to call out specific companies without any formal investigation or interagency process – that might be how they do things in the [People’s Republic of China], but this is the United States of America where we ought to have a thorough, independent investigation.’

In September, Fox News Digital reported that lawmakers were aware of a machine operated by a Chinese military company in use at the nation’s most secretive government laboratories. 

The machine operated by Chinese biotech company BGI is in use at the Los Alamos lab in New Mexico. 

BGI, among other companies, is included in a ban in the Biosecure Act. 

Also among them is WuXi Biologics, a company that planned to build a $300 million biomedical plant in McGovern’s district. 

Attaching the China outbound investment provision and the Biosecure Act to must-pass legislation would ensure it doesn’t die in the Democratic-led Senate the way House GOP-led bills often do. 

President-elect Trump said Christopher Wray’s resignation is a ‘great day for America,’ telling Fox News Digital it ‘will end the weaponization’ of the FBI, while touting his nominee Kash Patel as the ‘most qualified’ to lead the bureau. 

Wray announced Wednesday afternoon his plans to resign in January 2025. 

‘The resignation of Christopher Wray is a great day for America as it will end the weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice,’ Trump told Fox News Digital. ‘I just don’t know what happened to him.’ 

Trump said his administration ‘will now restore the rule of law for all Americans.’ 

‘Under the leadership of Christopher Wray, the FBI illegally raided my home, without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me, and has done everything else to interfere with the success and future of America,’ Trump told Fox News Digital. ‘They have used their vast powers to threaten and destroy many innocent Americans, some of which will never be able to recover from what has been done to them.’ 

The president-elect looked ahead to his nominee to lead the bureau, Kash Patel. 

‘Kash Patel is the most qualified nominee to lead the FBI in the Agency’s History, and is committed to helping ensure that Law, Order, and Justice will be brought back to our Country again, and soon,’ Trump said. ‘As everyone knows, I have great respect for the rank-and-file of the FBI, and they have great respect for me. They want to see these changes every bit as much as I do but, more importantly, the American People are demanding a strong, but fair, system of justice.’ 

‘We want our FBI back, and that will now happen,’ he continued. ‘I look forward to Kash Patel’s confirmation, so that the process of Making the FBI Great Again can begin.’ 

During a town hall Wednesday, Wray announced his plans to resign next month. 

‘After weeks of careful thought, I’ve decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down,’ Wray said during the town hall. ‘My goal is to keep the focus on  our mission – the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.’

The FBI director said the decision was not easy for him, adding he loves the FBI, its mission and people.

Wray is seven years into his 10-year term. 

Trump appointed Wray in 2017 after he fired former Director James Comey from the post. 

Trump nominated Kash Patel to serve as FBI director earlier this month, giving Wray the option to leave on his own or be fired.

While Wray’s last day is still undecided, it is expected to be in January before Trump’s inauguration.

The moment Wray leaves, Deputy Director Paul Abbate will become acting director until the new director is in place. Abbate is a career official who is eligible to retire from the bureau soon. He planned months ago to retire in the new year. 

Meanwhile, Patel has been meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week and has received a warm reception. 

Patel’s experience ranges from personally carrying out dangerous missions in the Middle East in an effort to bring home U.S. hostages to implementing counterterrorism strategies against America’s most-wanted terrorists. 

Current and former U.S. national security officials and lawmakers say that when looking at his résumé ‘objectively,’ he is ‘one of the most experienced people ever to be nominated’ to lead the bureau. 

During the first Trump administration, Patel served as a deputy assistant to Trump and as senior director for counterterrorism. In that role, Patel was involved in presidential missions aimed at decimating al Qaeda senior leadership and ISIS command and control. Patel was involved in the planning of the mission to take out Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, among others. 

Patel also was involved in efforts to bring some of the most-wanted terrorists to the U.S. for prosecution, and worked on Trump administration efforts to return dozens of U.S. hostages back home.

Beyond his counterterrorism work, Patel was heavily involved in U.S. strategy to counter Chinese, Russian, Iranian and North Korean efforts against U.S. interests. He also worked on the implementation of multimillion-dollar sanctions against foreign adversaries. 

Prior to working as a deputy to Trump and in the NSC, Patel worked in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) as the principal deputy to the acting DNI Ric Grenell and helped former Director John Ratcliffe transition into the role. Trump nominated Ratcliffe last month to serve as the director of the CIA.  

At ODNI, Patel also worked to focus intelligence collection against counter narcotic and transnational threats.