Show-Me State Times

In today's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) hearing, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) made the case for his legislation, the Time to Choose Act, which would restrict consulting firms like McKinsey & Company from receiving government contracts while advising U.S. adversaries like China.

“Why are [U.S. consulting firms] getting taxpayer money, advising our military, and, simultaneously, advising the Chinese military?” Senator Hawley asked incredulously.

Senator Hawley also pushed back against Bryan Riley, Director of the National Taxpayers Union’s Free Trade Initiative, and his comparison of American soybean farmers to U.S. consulting firms advising the Chinese Communist Party.

“I come from a state where our number one agricultural product is soybeans,” Senator Hawley explained. “We are a state of soybeans farmers, and—I can tell you—I think they would take great offense to you comparing them to a consulting firm that is taking a billion dollars in money from the United States military while simultaneously advising the Chinese military on how to harm the United States.”

He continued, asking, “Are you saying that soybean farmers harm the security interests of the United States?”

The Time to Choose Act passed the HSGAC this past May by an overwhelming bipartisan margin. Senator Hawley originally brought forth the bill in 2022 and reintroduced it earlier this year. HSGAC Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) are cosponsors.

The legislation would prohibit the Department of Defense (DOD) and other federal agencies from contracting with consulting firms like McKinsey that are also doing business with the Chinese government or its affiliates.