Why it Matters

For the first time in more than half a century, no binding limits govern the strategic nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is convening a hearing on March 24, 2026, to examine what comes next — both for U.S. arms control policy and for the State Department bureaucracy tasked with managing it. This new hearing preview lays out what's driving the committee's attention and what the stakes look like heading into a pivotal afternoon on Capitol Hill.

The expiration of the New START treaty on February 5, 2026, removed the last remaining framework constraining U.S. and Russian deployed strategic warheads. That alone would warrant congressional scrutiny. But the hearing's dual focus — arms control and the structural transformation of international security functions at State — signals that Chair Jim Risch (R-ID) and Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) are probing something broader: whether the department is equipped, staffed, and organized for the nuclear diplomacy challenges ahead.

The Policy Landscape Driving This International Security Hearing 2026

A Post-Treaty World

The collapse of the New START framework has reshaped the entire arms control policy conversation in Washington. According to the Arms Control Association, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control Thomas DiNanno has outlined two priorities in the post-treaty environment: accounting for all Russian nuclear weapons — including novel delivery systems — and bringing China into future arms control frameworks. That represents a fundamental pivot from the bilateral U.S.-Russia model that has defined nuclear diplomacy for decades.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres underscored the gravity of the moment in February, warning that "for the first time in more than half a century, we face a world without any binding limits on the strategic nuclear arsenals" of the two largest nuclear powers.

A New Nuclear Architecture

The administration has not been idle. A CSIS analysis details DiNanno's announcement of a new nuclear architecture that "addresses the threats of today, not those of a bygone era." The 2026 National Defense Strategy reportedly emphasizes escalation management alongside nuclear modernization and nuclear arms control — folding in nonstrategic nuclear weapons and China's expanding arsenal as central considerations.

A senior State Department official laid out the administration's vision in a February speech, proposing multilateral strategic stability talks, criticizing China for avoiding substantive engagement, and articulating the administration's position on nuclear testing on an "equal basis." The official also referenced President Trump's stated goal of "a world with fewer nuclear weapons."

Meanwhile, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists published its annual assessment of the U.S. nuclear stockpile in March, referencing a congressionally mandated report on "America's Strategic Posture" that includes recommendations to potentially increase deployed warheads and scale up production capacity across bombers, cruise missiles, submarines, and warheads.

State Department Reorganization Raises Expertise Concerns

The hearing title's reference to "transforming international security functions" points directly to a significant bureaucratic overhaul. The State Department has moved to merge its International Security and Nonproliferation Bureau (ISN) and its Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability Bureau (ADS) into a single bureau under one assistant secretary. This international security transformation has drawn warnings that staffing cuts and retirements could diminish specialized expertise in nuclear, chemical, biological, and conventional arms control policy — the very capacity the U.S. needs as it attempts to build new multilateral frameworks from scratch.

That tension — between streamlining government and preserving institutional knowledge during a moment of heightened nuclear risk — is likely to be a central line of questioning at this Senate arms control hearing.

New Hearing Preview: Who's Lobbying on Arms Control

Lobbying disclosure records from the past year reveal consistent engagement from organizations focused on the hearing's subject matter.

The Council for a Livable World, a prominent arms control advocacy organization, filed lobbying disclosures across all four quarters of 2025, reporting $40,000 in lobbying expenditures in each of the Second, Third, and Fourth Quarters. The organization lobbies directly on nuclear weapons treaties, defense policy, and related diplomacy — all core topics of this hearing.

The New Eurasian Strategies Centre Inc., which focuses on foreign relations and Eurasian geopolitical strategy, reported $80,000 in lobbying expenditures in both the Second and Third Quarters of 2025, with a reduced $10,000 in the Fourth Quarter. Given the hearing's focus on international security and State Department functions, the organization's Eurasian foreign policy work is relevant to the committee's scope.

The Council for a Livable World also operates two affiliated PACs — the Council for a Livable World Candidate Fund and the Committee for a Livable Future — which have made contributions to various congressional candidates during the 2024 cycle, though none of the identified recipients appear to sit on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

New Hearing Preview: The Procedural Details

The hearing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on March 24, 2026, in 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building. It is chaired by Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) serving as ranking member. The committee roster includes 22 senators — 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats — spanning a wide ideological range from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

Witnesses have not yet been publicly identified, though the subject matter suggests the committee could call State Department officials involved in the bureau reorganization, arms control negotiators, and outside experts on nuclear strategy and nonproliferation.

The committee has not tied the hearing to specific legislation, but the proceedings could shape future authorization or oversight measures related to the State Department's restructuring and the administration's approach to post-New START diplomacy.

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