Why Weren’t Gallagher, Buck, McClintock, and Moore ‘Whipped?’

Image: credit

AFTER A LONG TIME, too long really, a vote on the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was finally brought to the floor of the House on Tuesday evening. Unfortunately, the vote failed, 214-216. It wasn’t a good look for the new House Speaker, Mike Johnson, who should’ve made sure the votes were there beforehand. Of course, they’re about to recess—AGAIN—this time, for a President’s Day vacation, so…

As is typical for Democrats, they all voted against impeachment. As is typical for Republicans, they did not.Three voted nay from the outset: Reps. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, Ken Buck of Colorado, and Tom McClintock of California. Then, Rep. Blake Moore of Utah switched his vote at the last minute to ‘nay’ so that the chamber can bring it up again. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise wasn’t present as he was undergoing medical treatment for multiple myeloma. The margin was so small from the outset because the G.O.P. voted to expel one of its own, Rep. George Santos of New York, and later, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy resigned after he was forced to vacate the chair. (In a semi-sinister tweet, Santos said, “Miss me yet?” when the vote was tied, 15-15.)

Buck and McClintock claimed there was insufficient evidence for impeachment, though that begs the question as to how illegally one must act before one would meet that standard. (Would the U.S. literally have to fall to a foreign power?)  They feared it would establish a bad precedent that could be used by the other side. (The G.O.P. likes to appear as if it is taking the high road when, in fact, it is only displaying weakness.)

But McClintock has a particularly irksome bee in his bonnet. In a scathing and lengthy missive to his colleagues, he called the vote a “stunt” and “bad policy because it strengthens a dangerous constitutional precedent the Democrats will surely use against conservatives on the Supreme Court and a future Republican administration the moment they have that opportunity.” With friends like that, who needs enemies?

Aside from allowing the nation to be invaded, there is also a very real fear an actual insurrection may be underway. By a de facto amnesty for illegal aliens, which is arguably what is being pushed through via executive orders and omnibus bills, Dems can be sure to maintain a one-party rule in perpetuity because, sooner or later, the invaders will be legally allowed to vote (or at least have their illegal votes counted). Aside from the obvious, that one party would be Democrat out of gratitude for invite and the welfare, the invaders would count towards congressional district apportionment and Electoral College counts. This isn’t just my view; it’s almost mainstream outside of Dem circles today. It’s surprising who sees the light…

Vacate the Illegal Aliens OR Vacate the Chair.

HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON (R-La.) seems like a good guy. Authentic. Sincere. MAGA all the way. His job isn’t easy, though, because he must unite Republicans to marshal all the votes to take advantage of an extremely tiny majority. Obviously, Dems aren’t going to capitulate. Yet, they may just cover Johnson’s ass if he’ll only…’compromise’ with them. The question has been—will he? Well, on Thursday, he got the House to pass a continuing resolution to temporarily keep the government funded in order to avoid a shutdown over the weekend. The vote: 314-108 (106 opposed). It’s the third such CR

MAGA Republicans and conservatives in general view the agreement Johnson reached with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as a betrayal and as “a surrender,” even evoking threats of a motion to vacate the chair, which was used to oust Johnson’s predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, only three months ago. Johnson is in a bind. There may be an example where the G.O.P. was responsible for a government shutdown over the budget in the past that didn’t ultimately affect them adversely at the ballot box, but I’m sure I can’t remember it. What to do?

What makes negotiations so difficult is not just the spending, which is completely out-of-control and wholly unsustainable, but also the crisis at the southern border, which is as equally out-of-control and wholly unsustainable. So far, the G.O.P. signature border bill, H.R. 2, has gone nowhere quickly, just like ‘got-aways,’ or illegal aliens let go into the country on Biden’s orders. It’s particularly contentious because Dems want to capitulate to Biden’s whims and support Ukraine’s borders when our own are completely open for anyone from all over the world. Never mind the Senate is still trying to negotiate an emergency aid package for Israel and Taiwan, too.

Johnson says he won’t take up the Ukraine/border legislation, but he met with Biden earlier this week on the matter. This has understandably made MAGA world and Freedom Caucus apoplectic. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told the Washington Examiner, “The border comes first, and it shouldn’t even be a political party issue, so yes, absolutely. If Speaker Johnson were to cave right now to the neocons in Washington and to Joe Biden … I think a motion to vacate would, unfortunately, have to be on the table.”

G.O.P. priorities are no further aid for Ukraine and southern border security, meaning declaring a national emergency and fully closing the border. Without those two things, the budget is thought to be held up indefinitely. The short-term CR doesn’t address either. These legislative wizards have extended the funding deadline for 12 discretionary appropriation bills to 3/01 and 3/07 (from 1/19 and 2/02). The Senate passed the measure 77-18 (2 opposed.) The hard work remains.

The national debt is currently an eye-popping $34.4 trillion and growing. A good summary of the ‘Johnson-Schumer deal’ from The Concord Coalition is here.

Why Do Republicans Shoot Themselves in Both Feet? 

THE G.O.P. HOLDS such a small and precarious majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, it makes it nearly impossible to advance legislatively. It’s worse today, thanks to the loss of two Republicans, which narrows the majority to just two.

It started with George Santos, who served as the U.S. Representative for the 3rd Congressional District of New York for less than a year. Elected in 2022 after having unsuccessfully running in 2020, he defeated Dem incumbent Tom Suozzi. He was a devout supporter of President Trump, and spoke at a Stop the Steal rally and attended the Save America rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6th, 2021. He holds the dubious distinctions of being the first openly gay rep for the G.O.P., as well as the sixth person to be expelled from the House of Representatives. 

It turned out his bio appeared to be fabricated, including his ancestry (which is a foremost issue today for no reason whatsoever); ethnicity (also vitally unimportant, but highly scrutinized); education; employment, including charity work; finances; property ownership; victimhood, and even his residency. He ultimately admitted he fabricated his education and employment, but it wasn’t all he lied about or hid. 

He had committed check fraud in Brazil in 2008, failing to appear in court. He eventually agreed to plead guilty. And in New York in the 2010s, he failed to pay personal debt and eviction judgments against him, amounting to thousands. Two federal indictments alleging 23 fraud-related charges were brought against him in 2023, to which he pleaded not guilty

Santos refused to resign his office, bartering his resignation to the issue of the speakership, and avoided an initial expulsion vote, but wasn’t so lucky the second time, after a House Ethics Committee report issued in November. The second vote on Dec. 1st was 311-114 to expel, with 112 Republicans joining Dems—over the 2/3 needed to pass. Santos was the first Republican rep expelled and the only one who was expelled without first being convicted of a federal crime (or supporting the Confederacy in the Civil War.)

As guilty as Santos may or may not be, he is the first person to have been expelled from the House without having been convicted first. That there is precedent for needing a conviction isn’t trivial: it’s called due process. A better approach would be to try to convince him to resign—after some critical votes the House had planned, including and especially spending bills. That’s just smart lawmaking, and Dems would do it that way in a New York nanosecond. But no. The G.O.P. likes to shoot itself in the foot because it either wants, or believes it deserves to lose.

Another loss to the G.O.P. is former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who announced on Dec. 6th he would be resigning at the end of the year. It was a debacle when he was forced to resign his speakership on Oct. 3rd, so soon after he received it, but those were the terms he agreed to. It made the G.O.P. look like the grumpy old party, but it had been battling the mental demon of donkeys in elephants’ clothing for years, without much success. 

Still, McCarthy’s seat is staunchly Republican, so probably no worries there, but Santos’ seat is usually Dem all the way. It is said he won only because of disinterest in the election during the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s up for grabs.

It’s Dems versus the G.O.P. and the G.O.P. is divided. The G.O.P. is MAGA versus Neocons, and MAGA is ascendant. Unfortunately, Neocons are as toxic as most Dems are today, so there is no reconciliation likely in the near future. Some of just hope it isn’t because Neocons have hands as dirty as the Biden and Obama-affiliated, corrupt Dems.

Rubber Bullets, Flashbangs, and Tear Gas Likely Provocation of J6 

THE NEW HOUSE SPEAKER, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), released the January 6th, 2021 videotape that the former speaker, ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), failed to provide the public despite his promise to do so. There’s a lot of it, over 40,000 hours of it to be precise, and it will take time for reporters and others to wade through it all, but already, as suspected, there seems to be good (and growing) evidence for the belief that the Capitol Police may have incited the events of the day by firing munitions into a peaceful crowd. 

New video shows what appears to be Capitol Police firing rubber bullets, tear gas grenades, and stun grenades into the crowds of peaceful protesters before anyone ever tried to enter the Capitol on Jan. 6th, which had presumably instigated the violence afterwards that was played repeatedly on mainstream media in an attempt to prove there was an ‘insurrection’ that day. The protesters do not seem to have been given any warning, despite then-Deputy Chief Eric Waldow’s statement that they were. (A new chief, Tom Manger, was named in July of 2021 after the resignation after Jan. 6th of Steven Sund, and over 75 officers. Waldow retired from the Capitol Police sometime thereafter.) 

The fact the videos weren’t released much sooner is most unfortunate. There are still Jan. 6th defendants in jail awaiting trial, and others who pleaded guilty who probably shouldn’t have. The Capitol Police and/or D.O.J. should’ve released the footage promptly, especially since they were trying to convince a public, some who didn’t believe the government’s narrative, that there was an ‘insurrection.’ They should’ve released the footage in fairness to the defendants charged. 

Since the police or D.O.J. failed to release the footage, Kevin McCarthy and others should have done so once they obtained it. McCarthy did provide it to Tucker Carlson at Fox News, who proceeded to air some footage on his show one night, but never returned to the story before he was shitcanned by management. Some have speculated that Fox was either pressured by law enforcement agencies or anti-Trump power players to do so to coverup the scheme to instigate a riot, or to promote the official government narrative, or both.  

At Last: A New MAGA-Approved Speaker

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-La.) is the new G.O.P. Speaker of the House. He was the fourth nominee in what has become a bit of a sideshow (though Rep. Matt Gaetz [R-Fla.] managed to show some cockroaches, to wit, Kevin McCarthy, coming out of the woodwork in the process—watch here.) Once the third nominee, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, realized he had no chance to win, he graciously backed out after only a few hours as he had agreed, making room for Johnson, who was one of nine vying for the slot. Johnson defeated Reps. Byron Donalds of FL (a fav of many because he is black), Chuck Fleischmann of TN; Mark Green of TN; and Roger Williams of TX. Emmer is a RINO who 45th President Donald Trump said “would be a tragic mistake” to vote for.”

Johnson is a fourth-term rep who serves as the House Republican Conference’s vice chairman and sits on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Armed Services Committee. He is a lawyer by profession and had served in the state legislature. Crucially, he is considered a MAGA candidate, having voted against certifying the 2020 election results, Ukraine aid, and the 47-day continuing resolution to temporarily fund the government. (MAGA credentials are what shot down Emmer’s chance.) Johnson is also quite conservative, which is distinct from the populism of MAGA, but he won unanimously ostensibly because of Trump’s broad endorsement, his integrity, and perceived ability to unify the fractured and feuding G.O.P.  Even the three former nominees, Majority Leader Steve Scalise. Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, backed Johnson.

He promptly declared his first order of business: Israel. While this is an issue of major import, it might have been preferable to announce an affirmative intent and actions to secure the southern border for the safety, security, and financial well-being of the abused American taxpayers. It is, after all, Make America Great Again, not MIG, Make Israel Great. Not that it’ll likely make a dime’s worth of difference

How to Clean the House

IT WAS Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) who shook things up early this month when he took advantage of a condition then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed to in advance of his election (after 15 rounds of votes!) to his leadership role in January. Gaetz used his just one vote knowing it would be enough to oust McCarthy since he didn’t behave as promised. McCarthy’s leadership had started out as a semi-love-fest, but deteriorated shortly thereafter. Some in the House felt they had been tricked. McCarthy was, it seemed, just a RINO in elephant’s skin. 

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Oh.) decided to make a bid for the Speaker’s gavel, but by Monday, 20 Republicans were prepared to vote against Jim Jordan and in fact did, not in spite of Trump’s endorsement, but because of it. Things didn’t get better. Even an unusual offer by Gaetz didn’t change it. After three unsuccessful votes, meaning Jordan didn’t get a minimum of 217 needed, he bowed out Friday afternoon, despite having vowed to stay in for as long as it may have taken. Still, MAGA Republicans and Jordan acolytes lobbied hard for him.

Some accused the nay-voters of voting against Jordan to spite Gaetz. Others suspected House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) was to blame. Scalise failed to be nominated for the position ostensibly because he isn’t considered a team player, and had actually refused to nominate Jordan afterwards. (Rep. Elise Stefanik [R-N.Y.] nominated Jordan instead.) Talk about not being a team player—he has earned the wrath of grassroots and MAGA Republicans. An advisor linked to former V.P. Mike Pence and Ga. Gov. Brian Kemp. Bobby Sparrow, is also believed to sabotage Jordan’s bid. (He has been dubbed “Pence’s sledgehammer.”)

The biggest ass donkey to threatened Jordan is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who received all 212 votes of Dems, meaning he won the most votes.) He tweeted, “[There] are many good men and women on the Republican side of the aisle who are qualified to be the Speaker of the House of Representatives. There is no circumstance where Jim Jordan is one of them.” He called Jordan “the face of MAGA extremism,” and floated the idea of empowering Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) to prevent Jordan’s ascendency. 

House members have a Sunday deadline to put their names in for Speaker. On the bright side, it’s hard for the House to pass bills (and spending) with the status quo!

A Very Real Impeachment of a Very Fake Presidente? 

AT LONG LAST, it appears the House of Representatives will commence an impeachment inquiry into Resident Joe Biden’s apparent influence-peddling scheme. There’s oodles of evidence against Biden already, though the MSM, to the extent it discusses it all, prefaces it with the obligatory (and false) ‘without evidence’ qualification. David Harsanyi’s article in The Federalist, “There’s More Than Enough Evidence For A Joe Biden Impeachment Inquiry” succinctly itemizes some of that evidence and its probable use in an impeachment.

On Tuesday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) directed House committees to formally commence an impeachment inquiry into Biden as a “logical next step [to] gather all the facts and answers for the American public.” The House Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means Committees will lead the inquiry. There apparently will not be a vote to authorize the inquiry, but that isn’t unheard of: the Dem’s 2019 inquiry into President Donald Trump was also done without a vote. Here, though, the stakes are higher for McCarthy, who, in January, cut a deal with members for his leadership role, that would allow for a single member to be able to force a vote to remove him for his speakership role if he strayed from his promises. 

McCarthy will have to play his hand carefully. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is one of the members who would have no qualms about casting that first single vote for McCarthy to ‘vacate the chair.’ Gaetz would have supporters, too, despite the fact that the RINO faction of the G.O.P. seems set on not rocking the proverbial boat. (This makes some, including me, believe that some amongst the RINOs may have a thing or two to hide themselves.)

Adding to the calculus McCarthy must factor into his equation is the Sept. 30th deadline to avoid a government shutdown over spending. The MAGA contingent of the G.O.P. doesn’t want to fund anything that fails to include serious border security provisions, among other things, such as a balanced budget, term limits, the release of all video footage from Jan. 6th, and a subpoena for Hunter Biden. 

McCarthy, it should be recalled, is third in line for the White House. If Biden goes down, Kamala Harris would be next up, but her popularity is even worse than Biden’s. She’d be the putative incumbent for Dems, and all hell would break loose!

In Which the Government Gets It Half-Ass Backwards…

PROMISES WERE MADE by the G.O.P. about publicly releasing the over 40,000 hours of video relating to the so-called ‘insurrection’ on Jan. 6th, 2021. It was stifled from public view in large part because of then-Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who is believed by some in the G.O.P. of having allowing the events to happen and thereafter, carefully editing and curating selected clips for the public’s political consumption. Dems, in general, have fought to keep the Jan. 6th record under wraps. Republican’s promises therefore never really materialized. On Friday, that changed…sort of. 

Back in May, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) announced that three news media outlets had been given the footage from the Capitol on that historic day. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) had given “unfettered access” of the footage to investigative journalist and Just the news founder John Solomon’ senior writer for American Greatness Julie Kelly; and then-Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson. (Carlson aired some of it, but after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called his reporting “the worst security risk since 9/11,” and for Fox News founder Rupert Murdock to fire Carlson over the airing, further broadcast of the videos ceased. And eventually, Carlson was fired.) Rather than any of it being a bombshell, it was, at best, a whimper, and at worst, a dud.

The Committee on House Administration has since published guidelines for allowing some media, non-profits, and counsel for Jan. 6th defendants to make requests to view it. “House Republicans are continuing to deliver on our promise to bring transparency and accountability to the People’s House by increasing access to security footage of the U.S. Capitol from January 5th and 6th, 2021,” Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) stated, with somewhat less hyperbole than Schumer’s 9/11 idiotic comment.

A broader swath of people may now see the footage, or some of it, but the rules require spectators to set up an appointment that limits them to three hours, once a week. They may not record the tapes from the secured terminals inside the Capitol building. Portions of the footage may only be given at the discretion of the Committee. Civilized Yawn…

It’s bad enough the American public has had to wait for the release of tapes of what Dinesh D’Souza so aptly called America’s collective primal scream. The event occurred 32 months ago, an interminable period for Jan. 6th defendants remanded to jail awaiting trial without benefit of exculpatory evidence, if any, against them, and for counsel to defend them with. Primal Scream!

This Week in War (Summer Edition) PART SECOND

The Biden regime hasn’t forgotten about UKRAINE (Never!) in all the fervor over Taiwan. Due to an ‘accounting error,’ (of which there appear to be many under Brandon), the regime announced the second of two recent arms packages for Kiev, this latest one worth $250 million, and includes HIMARS ammo, AIM-9 missiles, artillery rounds, and an assortment of other military equipment. It uses the PDA, weapons directly taken from Pentagon stockpiles. (The first package was announced on Aug. 14th, and included highly controversial cluster bombs.) 

The ‘accounting error?’ The Pentagon says it overvalued arms sent to Ukraine earlier, which frees up an additional $6.2 billion to continue fueling the flames in a corrupt proxy war against Russia. Congress has authorized $113 billion in war spending since the war began. 

While on what appears to be a perpetual summer vacation, Biden has managed to ask Congress to authorize yet another $24 billion on the proxy war. And meanwhile, direct U.S. complicity in the proxy war is increasing by leaps and bounds. Ukraine has significantly increased drone attacks to Russia’s interior, but is using Western (read: U.S.) intelligence to do it, despite Washington’s claim it is not encouraging or enabling the operations. Some 42 drone attacks targeted Crimea on Friday alone, and are only expected to increase. And, according to The Economist, the purpose of the attacks, to psychologically impact civilians, shows the drones are purposely targeting ordinary Russians

Meanwhile, Central European NATO members, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, are demanding Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko expel around 10,000 Wagner fighters who entered in June, after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed mutiny (and what is now believed to be his recent assassination.) 

Poland, undoubtedly emboldened by the U.S. regime, had ordered a deployment of up to 10,000 of its own troops on the Belarus border. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is still alive despite press reports claiming he was terminally ill for years, has said he will consider an attack on Belarus as one on Russia, which is rather measured under the circumstances. 

The buildup of troops provoked a stronger response from Lukashenko, who has threatened to use Russian nuclear weapons in response to “aggression from NATO.” This has no hope of ending anytime soon, and indeed, senior U.S. officials are poised to back Kiev against Moscow even beyond next year, if necessary. And it will be necessary until diplomacy instead of warfare is used, according to pro-Biden newspaper, The Washington Post and columnist David Ignatius

The U.S. position seems rather foolhardy, given Putin’s fight is an existential one with much more at stake for Russians than Americans, and given the fully-anticipated failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive despite a massive influx of money and weapons. 

But the U.S. and Ukraine aren’t even seeing eye to eye these days, according to The Wall Street Journal. The U.S. wants Ukraine to use “combined arms” tactics they were taught from NATO at training in Europe (!). Americans also want Ukraine to focus on severing Russia’s land bridge to Crimea at the Sea of Azov. Ukraine, conversely, sees the conflict as requiring air superiority, which they do not have (nor do the Russians, for that matter.) 

That all may change, though, as the scheduled training of pilots in Europe has been replaced with a plan for the Pentagon to train Ukrainians on F-16 fighter jets in the U.S. starting in September, according to The New York Times. First, they must be taught English in Texas, then on to flight school in Arizona. It is expected it can be accomplished in under a year. 

Moscow will surely view this as an American escalation, especially since the F-16s can carry nuclear weapons. That view is only exacerbated by Poland’s and Slovakia’s sending of Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine earlier this year, making NATO appear to be, and in fact, being, a direct entrant into the war. 

If you are to believe American press, (and you shouldn’t), democracy itself is at stake. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had previously put his country under martial law until at least Nov. 15th  and canceled all elections in that period, said on Sunday that Ukraine could have elections during the war if only the U.S. and Europe ponied up enough money for them to hold a vote in October. In the interim, the eleven opposition parties in Ukraine are banned and the media there has been nationalized. (Premonitory, perhaps?). 

And if you are to believe American officials, like, say, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Ukraine is assured of further Congressional approval for war spending, even if House Speaker Kevin McCarthy might have a tough sell bringing  it to the floor because of increasing G.O.P. (and American) opposition. Indeed, a CNN poll found 55% of Americans oppose more spending on Ukraine.

Alarmingly, the current U.S. regime and its allies are negotiating deals for long-term military support to Ukraine that future administrations would be hard-pressed to exit, according to The Wall Street Journal. The idea is a simple one: lock in long-term pledges of G-7 nations and others (said to number 18) to telegraph to the Kremlin that it cannot simply wait out the Biden regime in hopes the new Trump administration will significantly scale back support for Kiev. 

While the Biden regime cannot legally bind a future president, it can set the stage to make it difficult, especially of G.O.P. hawks remain in Congress. The regime can also issue a long-term memorandum of understanding regarding support for Ukraine, which would not require Congressional approval. It would provide Ukraine annual military aid from the U.S., much like we provide Israel

If one didn’t know any better and were sufficiently paranoid and into ‘conspiracy theories,’ one might think that this is Biden’s ‘payback’ to the co-conspirators in his international corruption schemes that have made his family wealthy beyond imagination, and at the same time, compromised the United States on the world stage. 

The only question then becomes, is it payback in the sense he is robbing American taxpayers to pay for these nations’ welfare and wars? Or is it payback in the sense he is actually burdening these nations by provoking international war with them being both the subject and the arena of lethal conflict? Is it a case of no act going unthanked or of no act going unpunished? 

Maybe it’s both and Brandon’s having the last laugh. One thing is sure: the American taxpayers are not laughing, and won’t be for a very long time.

This Week in War (Summer Edition) PART FIRST

SOMETHING DUBBED ‘Foreign Military Financing’ is a program of the State Department which gives foreign countries U.S. taxpayer money to buy U.S. arms. The Biden regime has now approved the first-ever military aid package for TAIWAN, totaling $80 million, using FMF, despite the U.S. usually reserving it for sovereign, independent states, which technically Taiwan is not. It is neither an independent country according to China nor according the standing policy of the U.S. government, which recognizes what is known as the ‘One China’ doctrine. (The Associated Press says there was only one other occasion when FMF was used for a non-nation-state, and that was for assistance to the African Union, a bloc of some 55 African states.) 

The U.S.’s staunchest ally, the U.K., has been on board with this policy, too, but an influential group in parliament referred to Taiwan as an “independent country” in a report on Wednesday, just as the British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, visited China. Undoubtedly, this was good news for Taipei, but it drew a strong response from Beijing, which has always maintained that the status of Taiwan was a major red line, whereby “Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory.”  

Unlike the U.S., the U.K. has never had formal relations with Taipei, and recognized the People’s Republic of China in 1950 after Chaing Kai-shek’s nationalist forces fled to Taiwan in 1949, thereby ceding the mainland to Mao Zedong and the C.C.P.. It wasn’t until 1972 that Britain and the PRC established full diplomatic relations. Wednesday’s report boldly stated, “Taiwan possesses all the qualifications for statehood, including a permanent population, a defined territory, government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states — it is only lacking greater international recognition.” 

Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the Conservative party, told POLITICO, “we acknowledge China’s position, but we do not accept it,” adding it is “imperative the foreign secretary steadfastly and vocally stand by Taiwan and make clear we will uphold Taiwan’s right to self-determination.” Yet she played down the report, claiming it wasn’t a U.K. government document. The report was highly critical of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s China policy. “The UK could pursue closer relations with Taiwan if it were not over-cautious about offending the [Chinese Communist Party],” it said.

In the U.S., apparently the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act included a total of $2 billion in FMF funds for Taiwan. The contents of the FMF package to Taiwan was not disclosed to Congress. It’s not the first arms package to Taipei this year, however. In July, the Biden regime gave Taipei an arms package, worth $345 million under the Presidential Drawdown Authority for the first time. The PDA includes $1 billion in PDA funds for Taiwan alone under the 2023 NDAA. 

Since severing diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1979, the U.S. has simply sold Taiwan weapons, not financed their purchases with U.S. taxpayers funds—until now. As it currently stands, on Wednesday, the State Department approved a potential $500 million arms sale to Taiwan consisting of infrared search and track systems provided by Lockheed Martin for F-16 fighter jets. The sale is between the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, the latter being Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the U.S., given Washington and Taipei don’t have formal official diplomatic relations.  The plan is expected to receive bipartisan Congressional approval.

For its part, China has been watching the Russia-Ukraine debacle unfold and has surely drawn some alarming conclusions about America’s and Biden’s intentions (which, incidentally, are not necessarily the same.) China views America’s meddling as “collusion” between Taiwan’s “independence forces” and “external forces.” In response, on Saturday, the China’s People’s Liberation Army launched a series of air and sea drills. The extensive drills involved “jointly seizing maritime and airspace control, submarine search and anti-submarine operations in the waters and airspace to the north and southwest of Taiwan Island.” 

Taiwan’s Vice President Lai Ching-te had just returned from a trip which included a stop in the U.S., and since Lai is the frontrunner in Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election, it was viewed as a potential threat to China. 

Tensions have been heightened since then-Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi’s unexpected visit to Taiwan in Aug, of 2022, which 62% of Taiwanese believed made the island less secure from China, according to a Brookings Institute poll in Jan. of 2023. 

Since then, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen traveled to the U.S. in April and yet with new House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, hawks in both parties are urging the U.S. “arm Taiwan to the teeth” to prevent a Chinese attack on the island.”