@FDDAction | National security policy, focus on Western Hem & Intl Econ | Fmr @SenMcCormickPA @TeamMcCormickPA @forum_american & U.S. House | 6th gen Texan
Bethesda, MD
Joined June 2018
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The Trump Admin has a historic opportunity in the Western Hemisphere to make lasting homeland and regional security gains and create economic opportunities at home and across the region. Grateful to @ReaganInstitute for the opportunity to contribute to this year's RISG volume.
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
On this day two years ago, Bob Casey had a 69.5% “chance” of beating Dave McCormick.
Anyone remember what happened?
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
NEW!!! Rubio just held a call with reporters on Venezuela
Key takeaways: Washington says interim authorities are meeting U.S. demands, including steps toward political reform
Rubio said the U.S. expects a new Supreme Court, electoral council and elections on an agreed timeline
1/3
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
The conditions allowing for the safe return of Ms. Machado to Venezuela is the direct result of the U.S. supported reconciliation talks which has already seen hundreds of political prisoners freed and hundreds of political opposition figures return from exile.
The United States expects the freedoms of all sectors of Venezuelan politics to continue to be respected. Likewise, we expect all political actors to support these talks which represent the best chance Venezuela has had in thirty years to peacefully achieve not just a free and fair election but an enduring democracy.
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
@ConnorPfeiffer, Senior Director of Government Relations at FDD Action, has joined the Venezuela 2040 Working Group. “I have seen how decisions on trade, development finance, and security shape what is possible for investment on the ground,” he said. buff.ly/VgpAlKQ
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
THIS JUST IN: Secretary of State Marco Rubio just sent a clear message about the #Venezuela political transition talks between the opposition delegation headed by 2015 elected assembly leader Dinorah Figuera and the regime now led by Delcy Rodriguez: Figuera's team has "100% support from the highest levels of the US government” to pursue those talks.
The US-backed talks will continue on Oct. 14, Rubio said, alternating between English and Spanish. He added that “without any doubt, this needs to end in free and democratic elections,” and that Venezuela needs a return to democracy “as quickly as possible."
Rubio spoke alongside Figuera at the 7th floor State Department Treaty room in a traditional camera spray -- a setting where he almost NEVER responds to shouted questions from the press. Appears he wanted to deliver a very intentional message here.
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
Good framework on working w/ allies on defense production by former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll — but I’m not ready to yield the advantage to Russia & Iran when it comes to mass production on drones & other autonomous systems.
We should be able to realize parity on drone production w/ adversaries whose economies are no more than 1/12th the size of the United States & that don’t come close to matching America’s capacity for innovation.
It’s our failure that, over the last decade, we chose not to produce drones at the scale of Iran & Russia. But that failure is correctable.
Less than 1% of Pentagon contracted defense dollars go to leading defense-technology companies that make drones. LESS THAN 1%. And we’ve been slow to field the drones already in our inventory.
During the Iran conflict we deployed LUCAS — a reverse engineered Iranian drone —rather than a system born of American innovation.
That’s a failure we should be able to correct ourselves.
foreignaffairs.com/united-st…
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
More adoption of view that oil is flowing.
As my colleague Javier Blas has written, this took time to become apparent because the escorted ships have traveled “dark,” with their transponders switched off and commercial satellite companies cooperating with the US to make it hard for industry analysts to track the tankers. That made it harder for Iran to stop the flow, and also for independent oil analysts to verify US claims about how much oil the Navy was getting out. By now, though, it’s clear that Washington’s figures were substantially correct. . . . As many as 22 million barrels may have passed through the strait in 48 hours over the weekend, compared with about 20 million a day before the war.
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
SECRETARY RUBIO on VENEZUELA: We're working very hard with the 2015 National Assembly to put in place the conditions necessary to have free and fair elections as soon as possible.
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
The regime in Iran is losing the war. It played the Hormuz card from a position of weakness—and that leverage is now fading. Its nuclear and war-making capabilities have been severely degraded. Its economy is collapsing. The Iranian people despise the regime and will return to the streets.
Stay the course. Intensify the pressure. Prepare to back the Iranian people. Cripple the regime.
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
Iran has played its hand very badly. It's lost control of the Strait of Hormuz, where tanker traffic is the highest in many months. This means Iran has nothing to offer Trump in negotiations, even as its economy is in complete and utter meltdown...
robinjbrooks.substack.com/p/…
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
For Lindsey 🇺🇸
President Trump signs the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, authorizing and expanding statutory sanctions, tariffs, and prohibitions on Russia, and extending existing sanctions on Iran.
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Trump announces deal giving US ‘permanent control’ over Greenland’s security washingtonexaminer.com/polic…
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
🚨 The House just passed the Graham Russia and Iran sanctions bill 262-159 with major bipartisan backing. We’ve supported this bill since it was first introduced last year.
Now POTUS needs to sign the bill into law and begin using these authorities against Putin’s war machine.
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
With House passage of the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, House and Senate Republicans are placing maximum pressure on Vladimir Putin and the Russian war machine. This legislation strengthens economic sanctions against the Russian government, its financial institutions, and the foreign governments that aid Russian aggression against Ukraine by purchasing cheap Russian oil and gas and helping the Kremlin evade other sanctions. For too long, Putin has bankrolled this devastating war with money and resources from countries willing to look the other way, and today, that ends. This bill sends a powerful message of American unity and gives the Administration every tool in the toolbox to help bring this war to a just end, and we are proud to send it to the President’s desk.
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
Today, the Ronald Reagan Institute published The Future of Conservative Internationalism, Volume VII, a new collection of essays from the Reagan Institute Strategy Group (RISG).
Drawing on discussions from the 2026 RISG Summer Retreat, 18 leading foreign policy and national security thinkers examine how President Reagan’s enduring principles can guide American leadership amid a strategic environment defined by overlapping threats, competing demands, and challenges across multiple regions.
The collection ranges from U.S.-China competition and the future of NATO to the Middle East, the Western Hemisphere, economic statecraft, and the challenge of resourcing American defense.
Featuring essays from:
@jwingateburks, @DCTwining, @MikeWatsonVa, @ZackCooper, @michaelsobolik, @dustinrwalker,
Daniel Fata (@CSIS), @MatthewKroenig, @apolyakova, @SethGJones, Michael Singh (@WashInstitute), @RogerZakheim, @jamiemfly, @JosephALedford, @ConnorPfeiffer, Kari Bingen (@CSIS), @jamil_n_jaffer, and @MarkCMontgomery.
Edited by Reagan Institute's Rachel Hoff (@rachelhoff814) and @ThomasJohnKenna.
📚 Read Volume VII: ReaganFoundation.org/RISG
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
I always look forward to the @ReaganInstitute's annual Conservative Internationalism volume, and this year's edition includes a welcome section on the Western Hemisphere and the Monroe Doctrine.
As usual, @ConnorPfeiffer, @JosephALedford, and @jamiemfly knock it out of the park. If you have any interest in Latin America policy, don't miss their essays in this collection.
Connor Pfeiffer retweeted
The @ReaganInstitute's annual volume on the Future of Conservative Internationalism is now available. Inside, @ConnorPfeiffer, @jamiemfly, and I examine US policy in the Western Hemisphere, from Cuba, Venezuela, and the Trump Corollary to homeland defense:cloud.3dissue.net/28997/2891…
