Two House Republicans are traveling to Syria for meetings with new Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and other senior Syrian officials. Reps. Cory Mills (R-FL) and Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) are the first known American lawmakers to travel to the war-torn country and meet with al-Sharaa since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.

The two will also meet with Syrian Foreign Affairs Minister Asaad al-Shaibani during their visit, which was organized and funded by the Syrian American Alliance for Peace and Prosperity. The delegation is not sponsored by the U.S. government.

In a video shared by the organization on Friday, taken from the plane en route to Damascus, Mills said that it will be “a real honor to be there. We look forward to having a free, democratically elected Syria, a Syria that’s going to advance forward, build trade and economic relationships with the U.S., and hopefully continue to advance. As we make America great again, let’s make Syria great again.”

According to social media posts, the two lawmakers are also set to meet with other officials from the al-Sharaa government, civil society leaders and Christian leaders. They will also visit a notorious Assad regime prison and areas destroyed in the country’s protracted civil war.

Mills, a veteran and former military contractor, has traveled to conflict zones including Afghanistan as a lawmaker and candidate, and worked to help evacuate Americans from such environments. Mills sits on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees, and has frequently worked on Middle East issues, including some Syria policy legislation.

The Syrian government is seeking relief from U.S. sanctions, but the administration has not yet articulated a clear policy on the issue.

The U.S. has begun withdrawing about 600 troops from Syria as part of an effort to consolidate its operations in the country to fewer military bases with a smaller number of troops. In total, the 2,000-troop force is expected to be cut in half in the coming weeks, U.S. defense officials told reporters this week. President Donald Trump has said that the U.S. has no role to play in Syria, though he has not officially pulled the remaining 1,400 troops from the country. 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said this week that Israeli forces will remain in Syria indefinitely, citing the need to maintain security buffers along the countries’ shared border. 

The lawmakers’ visit also comes at the same time as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ trip to Syria. Details of both delegations have been scant. Spokespeople for Mills and Stutzman’s respective offices did not respond to Jewish Insider’s request for comment on the trip.