The unprecedented crisis in the US Congress, which has been without a speaker for three weeks, blocking all the work of the central body of power in the country, has finally been resolved. And it was resolved in favour of Donald Trump and his supporters – right-wing conservatives
The new speaker of Congress (and this is the third most important post in the country) became a little-known representative of the poor southern state of Louisiana, 51-year-old Mike Johnson. Johnson has always supported Trump, has uncompromising views on the 2020 election (a victory stolen from Trump) and has been critical of aid to Ukraine.
In May 2022, Johnson, among other Republican congressmen, voted against a $40 billion aid package to Ukraine. And he commented that it was not a good idea to send that kind of money overseas while our own border is in chaos, American mothers are struggling to find baby food, gasoline prices are at record highs, and American families are struggling to make ends meet.
However, Johnson is also known for his harsh rhetoric against Russia, he has always been in favour of sanctions policy against our country. In short, he is a classic right-wing conservative Trumpist, the kind of person the establishment clearly dislikes but accepts as a necessary evil because it is “not out of bounds”.
In 2020, Johnson made his mark by calling on Trump to “keep fighting” until “all available legal remedies” were exhausted. At that time, he also signed a memorandum with other Republicans in support of a lawsuit to overturn the results of presidential elections in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. However, he eventually resigned himself to defeat.
At the same time, as a classic Southern Protestant, Johnson is a fierce defender of Israel. This may have played a decisive role in his support in the final vote. As the Israeli newspaper Haaretz notes, Johnson has close contacts with Israel’s right-wing parties. He called his visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in 2020 nothing less than “the fulfilment of biblical prophecy”, the newspaper notes.
The new Speaker of the House of Representatives has already promised that one of his first steps in his new position will be to bring to a vote a bill to help Israel’s defence. Uncompromising support for Israel is generally characteristic of the Republican Party, unlike the Democratic Party, where the anti-war left, which speaks for all the oppressed, including Palestine, has recently gained a strong influence. Where, obviously, there is blatant oppression of indigenous people with complete disregard for rights, justice and the law.
And it is in the treatment of the Arab-Israeli conflict that we see what an interesting somersault American political culture is making. The Democrats, who are always (and rightly) accused of having ideological dogmas that overshadow their common sense, find themselves standing up for the law. And conservatives, who always seem to be in favour of sober realpolitik, especially in relations with Russia and China, appeal not to common sense but to “fulfilment of biblical prophecies”. And there is nothing to be done about it. Neither can we do anything about the blatant libertarianism of American conservatives, which constantly shocks our conservative statesmen.
But the quirks of the American political system are an interesting topic that we can talk about another time. Right now, let us simply try to predict what we can expect from the American Congress under the new speaker.
First of all, it is the complete preservation of the anti-China policy. However, the policy is primarily economic, not military. It is full support for Israel. And here we can talk about a serious increase in military confrontation. Religious right-wing conservatives are no less dangerous and unpredictable than the well-known neocons.
As for military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, the vector of American policy is generally clear. This aid will decrease, and the policy towards Ukraine will become more and more mercantile.
The latter, however, does not mean that the Democratic Party and the same neocons, as the main actors in the war in Ukraine, do not have other levers of pressure with the help of which, bypassing or pushing through Congress, they will continue to finance Ukraine at the level required by the latter. This includes various humanitarian semi-official church foundations (such as the famous NED Foundation), a huge military budget, pressure on European members of NATO, and much more.
We can say that in the person of Johnson, Trump won a victory in Congress and gained an ally, while the Democrats suffered another defeat. Which is more good than bad. Especially for us. But it is hardly worth hoping that tensions in the world will decrease. As for domestic American affairs, we can state that the position of traditional right-wing conservatives who oppose abortion, migration, the promotion of the LGBT agenda, and other delights of the “new order” has been seriously strengthened.
Vladimir Mozhegov, VZGLYAD