Sep 17, 2025 - World

Ditching AUKUS will "cause grave damage" in Indo-Pacific, says McCaul

Colin Demarest

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) speaks at an Axios space-security event Sept. 9. Photo: Kristoffer Triplaar on behalf of Axios

Scrapping the AUKUS security pact would embolden China and risk precious U.S. relationships in the Indo-Pacific at a time when war over Taiwan is a serious concern, according to Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas).

Why it matters: The Pentagon's policy shop, led by Elbridge Colby, is conducting an "America first" review of the U.S.-U.K.-Australia agreement. It's expected to wrap this fall.

Driving the news: Axios asked McCaul, chairman emeritus of the House Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs committees, at an event last week if he thought AUKUS would survive the assessment.

"God, I hope so. It has strong, bipartisan support," he said. "If that's torn apart, it'll cause grave damage in the Indo-Pacific."

Context: AUKUS is meant to arm Australia with nuclear-powered submarines and to foster a trilateral defense-tech ecosystem, with projects ranging from hypersonic weapons to electronic jammers to intelligence-sharing systems.

It rolled out under the Biden administration.

The intrigue: The Washington Post reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured an Australian official the deal would survive.

Threat level: Washington has obsessed over the Taiwan invasion timeline known as the Davidson window.

The bottom line: "Go back to my dad's war: World War II, the Indo-Pacific. I don't know how they pulled that off logistically," McCaul said.

"We're going to need partners in the Pacific like Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and other nations."

Consider these factors as the Pentagon dissects AUKUS

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Ditching AUKUS will "cause grave damage" in Indo-Pacific, says McCaul

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