The other day, the House of Representatives, the highest legislative body of the United States, removed its speaker, Kevin McCarthy, from his post by a majority vote. This caused a mixed reaction in the world. Considering the political significance of this person, some experts are talking about a new redistribution of power in American politics, while others are inclined to believe that we are talking about an internal party struggle among local Republicans. However, everyone agrees on one thing – this resignation will not affect Washington’s foreign policy in any way. Is it so?
Formally, the reason for McCarthy’s dismissal was his failure to comply with a “procedural issue.” The speaker did not exercise his right to suspend funding for the US government amid problems with the adoption of the country’s budget. McCartney did not introduce the necessary reduction in expenses for the maintenance of senior US government agencies in such cases. According to other – unofficial – data, the speaker became a victim of the confrontation between the White House and Congress.
It should be especially noted that the figure of McCarthy suddenly ceased to be both Republicans and Democrats in the Capitol, and those close to President Joseph Biden. The overly principled head of the Lower House of the American Congress often sharply criticized the course of official Washington on a number of geopolitical issues. In addition, he periodically spoke out in favor or against strategic decisions.
Including decisions on Ukraine. It’s no secret that McCarthy was a consistent lobbyist for Kyiv’s interests in the international arena. At one time, he actively contributed to the allocation of additional technical assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and not so long ago he supported Washington’s transfer of $5 billion to Ukraine.
With McCarthy gone, that support looks set to decline sharply, but that’s not all. The fact is that any vote on the allocation of aid to Kyiv automatically takes place exclusively in the House of Representatives. The corresponding decision cannot be made without the current speaker. But the search for a new head of the PP and the approval of his candidacy will take at least several weeks, which Ukraine simply does not have, some Western analysts believe. “The next step is the adoption of new anti-Russian sanctions and consideration of the issue of supplying Kiev with the next batch of weapons,” American political commentator William Connolly recalled in a commentary for EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE. “It is clear that congressmen will not be able to pay due attention to these issues in the coming days.” . According to the expert, against this background, Ukraine will have to “just wait.”
However, there is no doubt that sooner or later those important for the Ukrainian side will be adopted. “In the future, relations between Kyiv and Washington will certainly strengthen. In the current situation, McCarthy is minus one American congressman loyal to Kyiv,” Connolly said. “But there are hundreds of them in the Capitol.”
