S. 5551 — Critical Mineral Executive Coordination Act of 2026

This section declares that critical minerals and energy resources are essential to United States national security, economic competitiveness, and technological leadership, and that Foreign Service officers require training on global energy and critical mineral supply chains, including vulnerabilities from adversarial actors, through the Foreign Service Institute.

This section states the purposes of the Act to ensure Foreign Service Officers in positions with core energy and critical minerals responsibilities complete mandatory coursework on those subjects, to give overseas officers a practical understanding of relevant international policies and U.S. strategies, and to strengthen diplomatic capacity to address global critical mineral supply chain vulnerabilities influenced by the People’s Republic of China or other adversaries.

This section establishes a mandatory academic program on global supply chains and strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China at the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center. The program applies to entry-level Economic Foreign Service Officers before the end of their second tour and to Economic Officers assigned to missions focused on critical minerals or energy, and requires instruction on relevant treaties, U.S. supply-chain policies, competition effects, regional trade relationships, diplomatic and trade-negotiation skills, and specialized critical-minerals training.

This section requires the Secretary of State to mandate specialized training on critical minerals for Foreign Service Economic Officers prior to deployment to posts in countries that produce, process, refine, or export significant quantities of critical minerals, host strategic U.S. reserves, or play major roles in global supply chains. The training covers U.S. policy and interagency roles, country-specific resource and market analysis, geopolitical and national security implications, supply disruption risks including foreign control and corruption, and diplomatic tools to advance U.S. commercial and strategic objectives.

This section requires the Secretary of State to mandate specialized training on risk assessment and mitigation strategies for Foreign Service Economic Officers before deployment to posts in countries facing heightened supply chain disruption risks, existing or probable resource conflicts, or strategic resource vulnerabilities.

This section directs the Secretary of State to make available all academic program materials developed under section 104 to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy, the Office of Strategic Capital within the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment, and other Federal departments and agencies with personnel stationed.

This section expresses the sense of Congress that the National Security Council staff should include a Special Advisor to the President for Critical Minerals and Supply Chains, at the level of a Deputy National Security Advisor. The advisor should coordinate domestic and international supply chains for critical materials, make policy recommendations, serve as liaison to Congress and private industry, and be assisted by two deputy advisors focused on domestic and international coordination.