McCarthy Pushing for All-of-Congress Briefing on Chinese Spy Balloon

Speaker of the House Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks on debt ceiling outside his office at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Feb. 6, 2023. Speaker McCarthy, Alex Wong/Getty Images

House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has been pushing for a “full briefing” for all members of Congress on the Chinese balloon that last week traveled across the country and surveilled U.S. military sites, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) revealed on Feb. 7.

The Chinese surveillance balloon, which traversed the United States for about a week before a military fighter jet took it down on Saturday, ignited a bipartisan uproar in Washington over increasing threats from China.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Scalise, the House majority leader, described the incident as a “national security threat” and a “test” from Beijing to America.

“Speaker McCarthy has asked for a full briefing of all members of Congress to find out what really happens, so we’re still gathering more facts working through that process,” he told reporters.

The House lawmakers have been working to roll out a bipartisan resolution aimed at condemning China over the balloon incursion that could come out as early as this week. Scalise said the measure will involve members from four different committees and that they have not yet finalized the language.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) speaks at a press conference at the RNC headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Jan. 25, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

McCarthy on Feb. 2 requested a classified briefing on the balloon with the “Gang of Eight”—Republican and Democrat leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees—shortly after the Pentagon made public that it was tracking the spy balloon’s trajectory.

The Gang of Eight briefing is reported to be scheduled for Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Sunday that all senators will get a classified briefing about China on Feb. 15, which he expects to cover “where we stand with respect to China” regarding surveillance and military abilities.

McCarthy on Monday told reporters he wants to know why the administration didn’t take down the balloon earlier and instances of past balloon sightings. He argued that the Pentagon’s reasoning that it delayed downing the balloon while it was over the continental United States due to public safety concerns doesn’t hold water.

“You could do it over Alaska without any problem. You could have done it over northern Idaho. You could have done it in Montana. These are not high populated areas that gave you a lot of opportunity,” he said.

White House officials, including coordinator of the National Security Council John Kirby, have emphasized that they blocked the balloon’s intelligence gathering capability as it traveled across the country, but Scalise, echoing McCarthy, said he wasn’t satisfied with this.

“President [Joe] Biden tried to call it a success that they shot it down over the ocean. The problem is it was the wrong ocean they shot it down over, it should’ve been the Pacific Ocean,” he said.

Since the balloon’s detection on Jan. 28, “there were many opportunities over the Pacific ocean to shoot it down before it could actually carry out its mission,” Scalise added.

“It went over many military bases, this wasn’t some random path it took through the United States.”

As Chinese authorities were in control over the balloon’s direction, it could have sent data back to China during the journey, he said.