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Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded to President Joe Biden’s nasty rhetorical shot at Republicans last week. Biden said, “What are Republicans for? What are they for? Name me one thing they’re for.” In an op-ed at the New York Post, Pompeo outlines Republicans’ key principles and beliefs with passion and moral clarity. Among his points are:

Treating all persons as individuals, not as part of a subset of Americans, is the means to vanquish group injustice.

…Republicans hold these truths: Liberty, as promised in our Declaration of Independence, is our birthright, but it is only possible under limited government; expansive government, acting recklessly, subverts individual agency and choice.

…Republicans believe that the free market is the engine of economic growth for America and all the world. True innovation and the unleashing of human potential are never accomplished by dictatorial bureaucrats, who fancy themselves the creators of tomorrow, though they cannot manage the present.

…Republicans believe, as George Washington did, that a strong defense is the surest means to secure peace, for timidity in the face of belligerence invites conflict and, with it, the loss of life.

…Will you change course, sir, or will you preside over the collapse of our principles, our traditions and our civil society?

Read more here.

• The Wall Street Journal reports that some members of the US negotiating team have left the Iran nuclear talks in Vienna because the US policy is so weak:

With talks to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran reaching a critical phase, differences have emerged in the US negotiating team over how tough to be with Tehran and when to walk away, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

US officials confirmed over the weekend that Richard Nephew, the deputy special envoy for Iran, has left the team. Mr. Nephew, an architect of previous economic sanctions on Iran, had advocated a tougher posture in the current negotiations, and he hasn’t attended the talks in Vienna since early December.

Two other members of the team, which is led by State Department veteran Robert Malley, have stepped back from the talks, the people familiar said, because they also wanted a harder negotiating stance.

Among the issues that have divided the team are how firmly to enforce existing sanctions and whether to cut off negotiations as Iran drags them out while its nuclear program advances, the people familiar with the negotiations said.

• The Times of Israel reports that South Korea, with US "cooperation," paid Iran's dues to the United Nations with money that had been frozen by sanctions:

South Korea has used $18 million of frozen Iranian assets to pay Tehran’s dues to the UN, Seoul said Sunday, in a move to immediately restore the country’s voting rights.

The payment was made Friday in cooperation with the United States and the UN after Iran made an “emergency request” asking South Korea to pay the dues, Seoul’s finance ministry said in a statement.

…Iran also lost its vote over unpaid dues last year. It said it could not pay even the minimum amount because of US economic sanctions.

After months of negotiations, it was granted an exemption — it was allowed to access money blocked by the US Treasury — and got back its vote in June in time for the election of new members of the Security Council.

• Jonathan Schanzer and Matthew Zweig of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies state that President Joe Biden should put the Houthi group in Yemen back on the State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations. President Donald Trump designated the Houthis both as a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist in January 2021. Schanzer and Zweig write:

Within days of [Biden’s] inauguration last year, the administration pulled support from the Saudi-led effort to contain the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist group, officially known as Ansar Allah. The Biden team then removed the group from the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations and lifted sanctions against them. Since then, US policy can only be described as a quixotic pursuit of dialogue. Iran has used the opportunity to better arm and train its Yemeni proxy.

…Mr. Biden’s diplomats have bent over backward to appease Iran. Desperate to return to the 2015 nuclear deal, the administration wants to avoid any unpleasantness with Tehran’s clerical regime… [I]t’s time to redesignate Ansar Allah as a terrorist organization.

The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) is seeking an Outreach Associate to assist with the accelerated growth of membership and to support programming and events in California. Candidates must be organized, motivated, and detail-oriented. This position is based in Los Angeles, CA.

For details about the position and how to apply, click here.

A call to renew the Black-Jewish bond

Paul Packer and Kiron Skinner write: “There is perhaps no more important moment than the International Holocaust Remembrance Day to rekindle the more than century-long partnership between Black and Jewish people—a history of legal, political, and moral work that reshaped America and awakened its conscience.” Dr. Skinner, who served as President Donald Trump’s Director of Policy Planning at the State Department, will be a featured speaker at the RJC Leadership Meeting in Washington, DC on April 28. For more information about the meeting, please email [email protected].

Senate Republicans demand answers from Biden administration on Texas synagogue attacker

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are demanding that Biden administration officials explain why the British citizen who attacked a Texas synagogue this month was allowed into the US. In a letter sent Tuesday, the 11 committee Republicans called on FBI Director Christopher A. Wray to explain how Malik Faisal Akram was able to enter the US despite having been investigated by MI5 as a “possible terrorist threat” in 2020. They also sent a separate letter Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken with similar questions. The letters were signed by Senators Ben Sasse (NE), Charles E. Grassley (IA), John Cornyn (TX), Lindsey Graham (SC), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Mike Lee (UT), Ted Cruz (TX), Thom Tillis (NC), Tom Cotton (AR), John Kennedy (LA), and Josh Hawley (MO).

Watch Now: Replay of Past Virtual Events

You can see recordings of many past RJC virtual events. Go to the RJC homepage and scroll down to the "RJC Live" section. There's a drop-down menu there to select the video you want to see.

RJC staff have returned to their offices for in-person work. Contact information for our offices can be found on our web site. Please visit us online for the latest RJC news, to see details of upcoming events, and to donate to the RJC. Read past editions of this newsletter here.