Midterm election leaves Washington ‘more divided’: US consultant

CAIRO – 14 November 2018: Although the votes are still being counted in a number of states; a House with a democratic majority is prepared to unload what is called “Subpoena cannon” on President Donald Trump.

The democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, who is highly expected to become the next congressional speaker, assured the use of Subpoena power by the House is “strategic” but will not be in “political purposes,” as quoted by CBS news.

Joe Johnson, a US independent government affairs consultant, discussed possible grounds for the lower chamber of the congress to vote for Trump’s impeachment, saying “this is coming anyway.” He said that the elections left the country “more divided.”

The House of Representatives does have the right to file cases to impeach officials, but the Senate hosts the impeachment trials, upon which many believe the cases will be non-starters.

In a video conference held at the US Embassy in Cairo, Johnson commented on Egypt Today’s question on the record number of women elected in the US mid-term election as “a big deal,” as he expected more empowerment for women.

He further explained that the influx of female voters was mounted by a massive effort of newspapers and columnists encouraging them to partake in the process.

A total of 116 women were elected in mid-term election, with 95 taking seats in the House and 12 others in the Senate. Around nine women were elected as governors.

Katharine Rankin is an American citizen living in Queens district in New York city, and she headed to the polling station last week to vote for 29-year-old democrat, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who became the youngest woman to ever serve in Congress.

Although New York is not a swing state, Rankin noted to Egypt Today that the turnout was much less than the presidential election two years ago at her polling place.

“I expect that having a democratic house will make it much more difficult for trump to get the budget for things he wants like the wall…but the Senate is still a republican majority, and they can confirm another Supreme Court justice without house approval,” she added.

A day after congressional election, the US president vowed to fight any probes against him by the House, and forced out Attorney General Jeff Sessions after he recused himself from Russia meddling investigations.

It is also expected that the democrats will use their oversight powers to launch investigations into Russia meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, according to US consultant Johnson, who served before as a country director at a Russian institute to promote democracy and civil society in Moscow.

During last week’s election, voters in Florida passed amendment that will allow people previously convicted of felonies to restore the voting rights. Figures indicate that the amendment will benefit mostly the black Americans.

Johnson who lives in Florida said that there are more felons in the state than anywhere else in the country, adding that he was surprised the amendment passed, describing the move as “a great shift in Florida politics...they will most vote for democrats.”

He further ruled out any “drastic difference” in the US foreign policy direction after the election results.