Who will stand between Obama and the world

Who will stand between Obama and the world

10 Republicans who are about to become the new foreign-policy power brokers.



Congress may not be in charge of making foreign policy, but it sure can influence its implementation.  Here's a list of 10 GOP figures in Congress who will be crucial actors on the foreign-policy stage when the dust settles after the Nov. 2 election.


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1. Eric Cantor


The Virginia lawmaker, currently the House minority whip, could very well become majority leader in a GOP-controlled House of Representatives if current minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is elected speaker of the House. Cantor, who is particularly active on foreign-policy issues involving Iran and Israel, could see his role expand significantly if he is given the power to set the House floor agenda and therefore determine which bills are considered, in what form, and when.


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2. Jon Kyl

For months, Senator Kyl (R-Ariz.) has been the GOP's de facto leader on a host of foreign-policy issues, not least of which is the ratification of the New START nuclear reductions treaty with Russia. Kyl is withholding his support of New START until he gets a litany of concessions from the White House, and he might not even support the treaty at all. If the GOP makes significant gains in the election, Kyl will have a strengthened argument for pushing the full Senate vote on the treaty to next year: he could very well argue that the incoming GOP senators have a right to vote on the treaty, complicating further the administration's drive to secure the 67 votes needed for ratification.


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3. Jim DeMint

DeMint (R-S.C.) has been carrying the Tea Party banner in the Senate, staking out foreign-policy positions in clear opposition to the administration and often to the right of the GOP leadership -- such as his outright opposition to the new START treaty. He also uses his perch on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to fight vigorously for his pet projects, such as a global U.S. missile defense shield. Most incoming Tea Party candidates don't focus on foreign policy, but many will owe allegiance to DeMint because he has been filling their campaign coffers. They could be inclined to follow suit with his unilateralist, militaristic worldview, which many see as based on his neoconservative ideology rather than a realistic pursuit of U.S. interests in multipolar world order.


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4. John McCain

The Senate Armed Services Committee has always been known as the one committee where Democrats and Republicans play nice together. But as this session of Congress winds down, that comity has all but disappeared. McCain (R-Ariz.), the ranking Republican on the panel, refuses to sign off on next year's defense policy bill due to his objections to repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. But more broadly, he is poised to lead the Republican opposition to Obama's attempts to significantly reduce the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, starting in July 2011.


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5. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

If Republicans take the House, Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) is poised to take over the House Foreign Affairs Committee and could drastically alter the committee's agenda and priorities. For example, she is likely to scuttle the drive to ease sanctions and travel restrictions on Cuba.


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6. Richard Lugar

The ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Lugar (R-Ind.) will see his foreign-policy role increase not because he stands opposed to the Obama administration's policies, but rather because he will be needed to defend them. Lugar, a noted moderate and six-term veteran, stands as the only GOP senator to promise a "yes" vote on New START, and his advocacy will be crucial if the final vote is a close one, as many expect it will be.


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7. Kay Granger

Although not certain, it's likely that Granger, a Texas Republican, would take over the chairmanship of the House Appropriations subcommittee for State Department and foreign operations if the GOP wins the House. That would give her a large role in writing significant sections of the State Department's funding bill. She's a strong supporter of a balanced budget amendment, which doesn't bode well for foreign-aid funding in this dismal fiscal environment.


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8. Thad Cochran

As the lead Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Cochran (R-Miss.), along with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), will be key in choosing five new members of the State Department and foreign operations subcommittee.


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9. Olympia Snowe

When Bond leaves the Senate for his retirement, he will make vacant the top GOP seat on the Select Committee on Intelligence. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch is said not to be in line to take the post due to his other committee leadership assignments, leaving Snowe as the prospective GOP leader on the panel. The Republican leadership might not be crazy about placing a moderate like Snowe (R-Maine) in such a key position, but it doesn't want to alienate her either as the margins in the Senate become slimmer. As a rank-and-file committee member, Snowe has pushed for expanded congressional oversight of the intelligence community and has repeatedly called for reforms in intelligence gathering in the wake of high profile failures, such as the misleading intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

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10. Ed Royce


Royce (R-Calif.) is symbolic of Republican House members who are active on foreign policy and could change the tone of the foreign-policy discussion if the GOP takes over the House. He very well could become chairman again of the House Foreign Affairs Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade Subcommittee, where his staff could hold hearings on the Middle East, Africa, the war on terror, Afghanistan, and any other region sensitive to the administration's national security goals.


From Foreign Policy