The risks of failing to effectively engage Congress on the Khashoggi killing are two-fold:

1. It threatens to undermine the administration’s broader Middle East policy. That policy is rooted in the Saudi alliance in order to contain Iran and project U.S. power across the region. Now, senators feel emboldened to vote against U.S. support for the Saudi war in Yemen, oppose arms sales to the country, and to publicly deride its leader.

2. It will invite more, not less Congressional scrutiny. With a full House briefing on the Khashoggi killing reportedly scheduled for next Thursday, House Members will likely cover new ground in their questions. They may focus on direct communications between the White House and Saudi Arabia directly after the killing, when the cover story changed daily. For example, did the CIA pick up any of these communications, and, if so, what was said? All questions are fair game.

The bottom line: The longer the administration resists Congress and fails to acknowledge what its own intelligence agencies hold to be true, particularly about MBS, the greater the risk to both its national security goals and its ability to work with Congress.

Joel Rubin is the president of the Washington Strategy Group and the former deputy assistant secretary of state for the House of Representatives.

Here are the top issues Trump will confront in meetings with foreign leaders:

• Japan’s Abe: Devising a workable plan for ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions. North Korea is continuing to develop its nuclear and missile programs in secret, despite assurances to the contrary made by Kim Jong-un to President Trump. With a key stake, Japan is taking a hard position, one that will create concerns for South Korea’s Moon, who is taking a more amicable approach.
• China’s Xi: Deciding whether to end the jointly destructive tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in goods. Markets have been shaky and Trump’s political base is feeling blowback from his tariffs policy, opening the door to deal-making. An agreement to pause new tariffs while conducting negotiations to resolve the trade conflict would be a practical way forward.
• Turkey’s Erdogan: Discussing strategies to resolve the Syrian war and prevent the re-emergence of ISIS. The U.S. now controls nearly one-third of Syria, but ISIS is not fully extinguished. Cooperation with Turkey, Syria’s northern neighbor, is crucial to negotiating an end to the conflict. But Turkey still presents challenges to Trump’s Iran and Gulf policies. And Trump may be fearful of offending Saudi Arabia by meeting formally with Erdogan and not with Muhammad bin Salman, so he isn't.

With the canceled Putin meeting, nuclear insecurity will now become a greater concern as both the U.S. and Russia put off renewing their treaty commitments.

The bottom line: The G20 Summit will highlight many of the most intractable problems the U.S. faces abroad. Trump will need to redouble his engagement with the international community in order to resolve ongoing nuclear uncertainties, economic clashes and military quagmires.

Joel Rubin is the president of the Washington Strategy Group and the former deputy assistant secretary of state for the House of Representatives.

The details: Backing up the new chairmen will be a dynamic set of new members with deep national security experience, such as Abigail Spanberger (CIA), Elissa Slotkin (Defense Department) and Tom Malinowski (State Department). New progressive representatives will advocate for policies that speak directly to their personal backgrounds, such as Ilhan Omar (Somali-American, Muslim and former refugee) and Rashida Tlaib (Palestinian-American and Muslim).

House Democrats will also expand oversight of Russia issues and the nature of Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin; the ongoing military conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan; Trump’s Iran policy; and the state of America’s shrinking diplomatic corps.

Crucially, controversial oversight issues may prove the wildcard in the next Congress. For example, the ambush in Niger that killed four American servicemen earlier this year received almost no Congressional attention, despite its echo of the Benghazi attacks. Now, Congressional Democrats will have their turn to ask pointed questions.

The bottom line: After being relegated to the back bench for nearly a decade on national security, Democrats are now in the driver’s seat. They will have a lot to balance: how to put pressure on Trump; how to demonstrate a vision for America’s role in the world; and how to prepare the ground for 2020.

Joel Rubin is the president of the Washington Strategy Group and the former deputy assistant secretary of state for the House of Representatives.