Hello all, and welcome to another incredibly noteworthy week in foreign and domestic affairs. President Biden used his second Oval Office Address to urge Congress and the American people to support efforts to aid Ukraine and Israel. Specifically, the President is seeking a package of $100 billion to be divided between aid for the two nations. “History has taught us, when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going, and the cost and the threats to America and the world keep rising,” Biden said.
But America will have difficulty responding to any crises, foreign or domestic, without a House Speaker. In this regard, we seem no closer to a solution than we did when last week’s newsletter went out. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan failed to procure enough votes to attain the Speakership on two separate ballots. It then appeared that the House GOP was lining up behind an effort to simply expand the powers of the temporary Speaker, Congressman Patrick McHenry. But this effort soon fizzled as well. At this point it appears that both the efforts to elect Jim Jordan and to expand the powers of McHenry are still on the table, but neither has enough support to pass.
There were a number of major developments around the world as well. Ukraine utilized its new ATACMS missiles to conduct a successful targeted strike on Russian airfields deep in its eastern occupied territory. The successful use of these long range weapons could pose a significant threat to Russia’s supply lines, weapons caches, command and control nodes, and military equipment throughout Eastern Ukraine and down into Crimea. Meanwhile, American forces have responded to attacks across the Middle East. The USS Carney intercepted multiple missiles fired by Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen while US forces in Iraq and Syria shot down a number of drones threatening their positions.
And, it was revealed that China has drastically expanded its nuclear arsenal, amassing as many as 500 operational warheads.