Follow the latest news on the US midterm elections 2022
With the Republican Party set to snag a narrow majority in the US House of Representatives following Tuesday's midterm elections, the White House will be bracing for oversight and a series of investigations into foreign policy matters including Ukraine, Afghanistan and Iran.
While the new Congress will mostly be preoccupied with domestic issues such as inflation and petrol prices, Republicans who will now lead major committees in the House have signalled their readiness to pressure President Joe Biden's administration on national security issues.
Future of Ukraine aid
Last month, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said that if his party takes the majority in the chamber, it will not approve bottomless aid for Ukraine.
“People are going to be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank cheque to Ukraine,” Mr McCarthy, who is the leading candidate to become speaker of the House, said in mid-October.
The US has sent Ukraine an estimated $60 billion in security aid since the Russian invasion began in February.
Ukraine war latest — in pictures
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Smoke rises on the outskirts of the city during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv. Reuters -
Workers surround the Monument to the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred with sandbags against damage from shelling in Mykolaiv. EPA -
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for talks before a meeting between the Russian president and the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Russia. AFP -
People take water from a water pump in Kyiv. EPA -
A woman walks past a damaged building in the town of Nova Kakhovka. Reuters -
A woman outside her home, which was destroyed during battles at the start of the conflict, in Yahidne, Chernihiv. Getty Images -
People shelter inside a subway station during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv. Reuters -
Firefighters at the site of a drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
A woman walks past the site of a Russian missile strike in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. Reuters -
Rescuer workers at a building destroyed in an attack in Mykolaiv. Reuters -
Parts of a drone lie on a street in Kyiv. Reuters -
A drone flies over the Ukrainian capital during an attack. AFP -
Ukrainian servicemen tow a captured Russian armoured vehicle in Rudneve village, Kharkiv. EPA -
A partially destroyed residential building in Saltivka, in Kharkiv. AP -
Ukrainian servicemen fire a captured Russian howitzer on a front line near Kupyansk city, Kharkiv. EPA -
Ukrainian servicemen near the recently retaken town of Lyman in Donetsk region. AFP -
An officer from a Ukrainian national police emergency demining team prepares to detonate collected anti-tank mines and explosives near Lyman, in the Donetsk region. AFP -
A boy playing on a destroyed Russian tank on display in Kyiv. AFP -
A young couple hiding underground during an air alert in Zaporizhzhia. AFP -
Ukrainian firefighters looking for survivors after a strike in Zaporizhzhia. AFP -
Workers fix a banner reading 'Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson - Russia!' to the State Historical Museum near Red Square in Moscow. AFP -
Residents try to cross a destroyed bridge in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. AFP -
Alyona Kishinskaya helps to clean up a shop as it prepares to reopen in Balakiya, Ukraine, after a six-month Russian occupation. Getty Images -
Alla, 12, has a swinging time in Balakiya, Ukraine, as life goes on despite the war. Getty Images -
Ukrainian flags in the town square in Balakiya. Getty Images -
A destroyed Russian command centre in Izium, Ukraine. Getty Images -
In what may be a final farewell, young Russian recruits - escorted by their wives - walk to a train station in Volgograd before being sent to war in Ukraine. AP -
Russian recruits board the train to Ukraine in Volgograd. AP -
Ukrainian soliders drive a tank at the recently retaken eastern side of the Oskil River in Kharkiv region, Ukraine. AFP -
Volunteers pass boxes of food aid on a destroyed bridge over the Oskil River. AFP -
Ukrainian soliders rest on an armoured personnel carrier. AFP -
A sign warns of landmines in Izyum, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
This crater was left after a missile strike in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. AFP
Although there is bipartisan support for Ukraine, the isolationist wing of the Republican Party — in addition to a few progressive Democrats — have openly criticised the unconditional backing of Kyiv.
But Clayton Allen, a policy expert at the Eurasia Group, said Mr McCarthy’s comments are not the same as vowing to stop support.
“No blank cheque is not the same thing as saying no cheque,” Mr Allen said on Wednesday in a briefing with reporters.
“What he [Mr McCarthy] was forecasting was us going to be in a recession next year, and voters are not going to have the patience to give $50 billion with no conditions.”
Within the Senate, there is also division over Ukraine. While members close to Mr Trump such as JD Vance, a newly elected senator from Ohio, have called for a cut in aid, the majority of Republicans in the Senate oppose that policy.
JD Vance gets into heated debate over 2020 election — video
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell broke with Mr McCarthy on the issue last month and called for increased support to the Eastern European country.
Mr Allen expected more oversight and questions to both the White House and Kyiv over the security aid but not a cut.
Iran deal and protests
Republicans in the House are also likely to increase pressure on the White House when it comes to Iran, whether by objecting to a return to the nuclear deal of 2015 or pushing for more action on the current protests.
Richard Goldberg, a former Iran analyst on the US National Security Council and a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, said a Republican House will complicate Mr Biden’s Iran policy.
“The new majority will be able to hold hearings, conduct investigations, pass legislation and — perhaps most importantly — schedule an up-or-down vote to reject any future nuclear deal,” Mr Goldberg told The National.
He said the US Special Envoy to Iran Robert Malley could personally find himself a target of those hearings.
Protests in Iran continue — in pictures
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Iranians protest in Tehran after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police in September. AP Photo -
Protests have intensified despite a vicious government crackdown that has left as many as 200 people dead, although estimates of the toll by rights groups vary. AP Photo -
At least eight members of the security forces have also been killed or wounded during the unrest and there are signs that violent resistance could be intensifying. AP Photo -
A fire burns at the office of the governor of Mahabad, in the West Azerbaijan province of Iran. AFP -
Protesters gather in the a courtyard of Chitgar complex in western Tehran. AFP -
Iranian protesters continue to defy a deadly crackdown by security forces. AFP -
A woman cuts her hair at the grave site of Nika Shahkarami in the city of Khorramabad, during a reported memorial held to mark 40 days since the death of the 16-year-old. AFP -
A woman not wearing a headscarf stands on top of a vehicle as thousands make their way towards Saqez, Mahsa Amini's home town, to mark 40 days since her death in police custody. AFP -
Iranian riot police prepare to confront protesters the capital, Tehran. AFP -
Iranian protesters surge forward amid clashes with riot police in Tehran. AFP -
A crowd blocks an intersection during a protest to mark 40 days since Amini's death in custody. AP Photo -
Iranian police arrive to disperse a protest in Tehran. AP Photo -
Protesters chant at a vigil for Amini at the Khajeh Nasir Toosi University of Technology in Tehran. Reuters -
Students at Sharif University of Technology attend a protest. AP Photo -
Police outside Sharif University during a student protest. AP Photo -
Students at the university protest over the death of Amini, who was in 'morality police' custody for allegedly breaking strict rules on head coverings for women. AP Photo -
The students' banner says: 'No to mandatory hijab'. AP Photo
“If you're Rob Malley, facing the likelihood of congressional investigations into things like his communications with Russia or his [alleged] offers to pay billions of dollars for hostages … you have to think long and hard about staying on as Iran envoy,” the expert said.
And as protests continue in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, Mr Goldberg argued that a new Congress will increase the support and the pressure on the White House to act decisively.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, with the likelihood of Democrats retaining the Senate, a continuity in policy is expected when it comes to confirming ambassadors, supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces, working with the Palestinian Authority and supporting US partners in the region.
Afghanistan hearings
The new House of Representatives is likely to turn up the heat over Afghanistan, where Mr Biden’s rushed withdrawal in 2021 was heavily criticised by Republicans.
Michael McCaul, who is likely become the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month “requesting the preservation of all documents related to the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan”.
“Access to this information is critical to the constitutional legislative and oversight responsibilities of Congress, and it is unacceptable for such requests to be ignored or given the attention they deserve,” he wrote.
Such a request could initiate congressional inquiries, investigations and subpoenas.
A Republican House will also look into US policy in the Western Hemisphere, where more leftist leaders have taken control in Brazil, Chile and Honduras.
On China, Republicans have signalled more willingness to arm Taiwan and embrace tougher trade policies.
The new Congress is expected to start its session on January 3.
A new Afghanistan: Taliban militants across the country — in pictures
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A Taliban fighter prays next to a demonstration organised by the Afghan Society of Muslim Youth, demanding the release of frozen international money in Kabul, Afghanistan. AP Photo -
A Taliban fighter and a group of Afghan men attend Friday prayers in Kabul. AP Photo -
Taliban soldiers in Bagram Air Base in Parwan. Reuters -
Taliban soldiers Seifatollah and Vasighollah stand in a prison in Bagram Air Base. Reuters -
Taliban patrol Kabul. EPA -
Vahdat, a Taliban soldier and former prisoner, stands next to exercise equipment in Bagram Air Base. Reuters -
A Taliban fighter stands guard near Zanbaq Square in Kabul. AFP -
Taliban fighters police a road in Herat. AFP
