![]() ![]() The other is regarding possible Trump campaign and administration ties with foreign powers-mainly Russia. First is the likely investigation into Trump’s personal finances going back years. House Democrats campaigned on using their investigative authorities in House committees and “every arrow in quiver,” to quote Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi before the election, on investigating Trump and his administration’s “culture of corruption, cronyism and incompetence.” More recently they have outlined two distinct but interconnected lines of inquiry that may have implications for Middle East policy. However, House Democrats will be able to influence and police the Trump administration’s Middle East policy through three distinct tools: investigation, policy oversight, and legislation. The executive branch is “the sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations,” and the duty to provide “advice and consent” on appointments falls to the Senate. Having the majority in the House of Representatives is not necessarily the strongest position of power to influence U.S. Trump’s undying support for Saudi Arabia’s 33-year-old princeling is increasingly difficult to explain. But there is also every conceivable political advantage in raising the cost for Republicans of maintaining current Trump administration policies by highlighting the Trump’s overinvestment in the Saudi relationship and the conflicts of interest that may be influencing that dynamic. And the image of a bone saw will likely not be wiped away from Mohammad bin Salman’s political profile anytime soon.ĭemocrats have been relatively more amenable to the argument that the Saudi government promotes extremism and takes on destabilizing policies in the region-often with U.S. Democrats who have long spoken of Riyadh with respect now accuse the regime of criminality. ![]() ![]() Key Republican supporters, their confidence shaken, are even calling for a “ recalibration” of the relationship. Washington’s anger over the Khashoggi murder will likely a fade over time but the Saudi’s vaunted lobbying and public relations machine in Washington has been targeted for unprecedented scrutiny. But there is little chance any tangible action can be taken before the new Congress convenes in the new year. True, this development does demonstrate greater appetite among Republicans for punitive action against the Saudi regime in light of the murder of Khashoggi. Although a great achievement, it is also a “ largely symbolic rebuke” that will not affect US policy, especially as the House is unlikely to even vote on it by the end of the session. assistance to the Saudi-led war effort in Yemen. The administration is now blocking an already watered-down UN Security Council resolution sponsored by Britain attempting to address the humanitarian fallout because Saudi Arabia’s crown prince “ threw a fit.” The administration tried and failed to block the passage of the resolution sponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) to bar all U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took to the Wall Street Journal opinion page to call the Saudi government that has shattered Yemen a “powerful force for stability in the Middle East.” Trump’s recent, garish statement recommitting himself to Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) seems to have convinced experts that the administration will not, on its own, force Saudi Arabia to abandon its military ambitions. This creates a level of exposure and unpopularity and increasing partisanship for the administration’s foreign policy that Democrats will now be able to exploit.īy most accounts, the Saudi war in Yemen has failed to achieve any of its objectives and has created new problems. Just the opposite: The more public scrutiny that is focused on the relationship, both in the United States and in Saudi Arabia, the more difficult it becomes for the elites on each side to defend it.ĭue to the intractably affectionate relationship between the Trump administration and the Saudi royals as well as the uproar over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi-and the CIA’s determination that the crowned prince was responsible-this gap in popularity has widened to a gulf. In times of crisis, there is no reservoir of popular support to be drawn upon for sustaining the relationship. Gregory Gause III said that the relationship has never been based on public support but rather on “an elite bargain” that overcomes “vast political and cultural differences between the two societies.” He continued: Reflecting on the unpopularity of the U.S.-Saudi relationship after the September 11 attacks, scholar F.
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