House Foreign Affairs Chair McCaul 'briefly detained' by police after appearing drunk at airport

WASHINGTON — Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, was briefly detained after an interaction with police at Dulles International Airport near Washington, a spokesperson told NBC News.

The spokesperson said that McCaul was not arrested and was not threatening to anyone and that police approached him because he appeared to be drunk and needed help. McCaul was then able to phone a family member to pick him up from the airport to bring him back to Washington.

A spokesperson for Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority police said McCaul was charged with being drunk in public around 9 p.m. Nov. 4 and released to a driver who picked him up.

The spokesperson said McCaul, who is a nervous flyer, took the drug Ambien to help him sleep on a flight back home to Texas and inadvertently missed his flight.

While he was working to rebook his flight, the Ambien, which he had mixed with several alcoholic drinks, made him disoriented, and he locked himself out of his phone, the spokesperson said.

That led to his encounter with police, who initially thought he was just drunk and detained him, the spokesperson said. After McCaul explained the situation, police helped him to use one of their phones to call a family member who picked him up at the airport.

The spokesperson said McCaul was respectful of police throughout the encounter.

“Two weekends ago, I made a mistake — one for which I take full responsibility. I missed a flight to Texas and found myself disoriented in the airport. This was the result of a poor decision I made to mix an Ambien—which I took in order to sleep on the upcoming flight—with some alcohol," McCaul said in a statement.

He added: “Law enforcement officers briefly detained me while I waited for a family member to pick me up. I have nothing but respect and gratitude for the officers who intercepted me that evening. This incident does not reflect who I am and who I strive to be. As a human, I am not perfect. But I am determined to learn from this mistake and, God-willing, make myself a better person.”

McCaul oversees one of the most powerful committees in the House and often travels around the world on behalf of the House speaker to meet with foreign leaders and dignitaries.

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Republicans have a term limit policy for chairs and ranking members of committees, and McCaul is set to hit the limit at the end of his current term. To continue as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, he must seek and get a waiver from the House Steering Committee, which McCaul has said he plans to request.

McCaul, who was easily re-elected to his 11th term in the House, previously was chair of the Homeland Security Committee.

Members returned to Washington this week after Republicans took back the White House and the Senate while retaining control of the House.

The House and the Senate are starting their lame-duck session, a term used to describe the time between the election and the beginning of a new administration when retiring members and those who did not win their re-election bids are still serving in Congress.

On Wednesday, House Republicans met at the Hyatt Regency in Washington to hold their leadership candidates forum and elections, even though the results of some battleground House races are still unknown.

President-elect Donald Trump stopped by the Hyatt to meet with the House Republican Caucus ahead of a meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.

At the meeting with House Republicans, he endorsed Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in his bid for another term in the role.