Nancy Mace draws White House ire over independent Middle East rescue efforts

White House officials have grown increasingly frustrated with Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace, accusing her of complicating efforts to evacuate Americans stranded in the Middle East by attempting to conduct her own rescue missions, according to people familiar with the matter.

The irritation with Mace has been building for days after she traveled to the region to try and transport US citizens across international borders and engaged with foreign governments without informing the state department, which has been coordinating evacuation flights.

Trump administration officials have taken particular issue with Mace’s outreach to Saudi Arabia, where she unilaterally engaged with Saudi officials to facilitate departures for Americans – and then asked the state department to requisition a Saudi commercial plane to transport 300 people.

“Secretary Rubio, I am asking you directly: please authorize this Saudi aircraft mission without delay. I have done the diplomatic work and secured the commitment,” Mace wrote in a 16 March letter, addressed to US secretary of state Marco Rubio, reviewed by the Guardian.

Separately, officials said, Mace, who is currently running for South Carolina governor, encouraged a group of Americans to relocate from a high-risk region to Jordan without a clear plan for onward travel. That forced the state department to send a plane to pick up the group as it found itself stranded in Jordan.

White House officials have complained that Mace was complicating an already fraught process where some diplomats and travelers have accused the administration of not evacuating US citizens fast enough. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational details.

“If members of Congress want to be helpful they should work with the administration instead of trying to exploit the situation for political gain,” one of the officials said.

A spokesperson for Mace did not immediately provide comment. A state department spokesperson declined to comment.

Since the start of the conflict, Iran has fired retaliatory missiles and drone swarms at its neighbors, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Several of those countries closed down their airspace and shut down airports as a result.

Travelers calling a state department hotline initially got an automated message saying the federal government could not help them get out of the region, until the state department started evacuating Americans by charter flight four days after the start of the conflict.

Mace traveled to the Middle East against that backdrop, saying on social media that she intended to help her constituents from South Carolina to get back to the US, relying on a third party provider called Grey Bull Rescue.

Despite Mace’s initial success in evacuating people from Israel, her recent efforts have been mired in controversy. Among other things, Grey Bull Rescue suspended operations on Wednesday after an American mother accused the group of extorting them for $1m to return to the US.

It comes as the state department operation has largely been effective in repatriating Americans. An administration official said they had completed 60 flights as of Wednesday evening, in total providing direct or indirect assistance to 42,000 people who had asked for help.

The charter flights are continuing but a person familiar with the matter said many of them have increasingly been empty. In some cases, Americans have turned down charters with flight connections, for instance in Greece, which the state department has been using because it has a large consular presence.

The state department also struck a deal with Israel’s flag carrier El Al airlines to fly only US citizens or permanent residents from Tel Aviv to John F Kennedy international airport in New York, the person said, although that has required people to get to Tel Aviv first.