Washington

- In light of the deepening social and cultural divisions on central issues such as abortion, the right to bear arms and immigration among Americans, and with the continued deterioration of economic conditions and the start of the new presidential election season, 2023 will be difficult for Democrats and Republicans as well.

Al-Jazeera Net presents - in a question and answer - the horizon of redressing President Joe Biden's term in light of Republican control of the House of Representatives, and the consequences of that on the future White House agenda.


What effect will the Republicans' return to control of the House of Representatives have on Biden's agenda?

President Biden will not be able to achieve any major breakthroughs in his legislative agenda on domestic issues during 2023.

The traditional non-political work of Congress, such as passing appropriations packages for defense spending and the federal budget, will continue.

But everything else will slow down considerably with a divided government over the next two years.

And everything that Biden did not do by the end of 2022 is unlikely to be achieved during 2023.

There is little that Democrats and Republicans agree on, other than a shared skepticism toward Big Tech and the dangers of China.

And the "Republican" House of Representatives is likely to clash on most issues with the "Democratic" Senate during the next two years of a Biden presidency.


With his term halfway through, what can Biden accomplish in 2023?

Biden begins the new year in light of a significant decline in his popularity, as a result of which the percentage of satisfaction with his policies decreased to less than 40%, and the majority of Americans now do not agree with the president’s performance of the duties of his position, but rather considered him a failure in the task of uniting them, or facing the economic crisis, according to the results of the latest. NBC News poll.

Obstructing the passage of the president's ambitious infrastructure-related agenda and his having to amend it, and then obstructing "build back for the better" legislation worth several trillion dollars, highlighted the scale of the internal conflict between the Democratic Party's currents, especially between progressive members and the traditional majority.

Nor was Biden able to face the crisis of the issue of irregular immigration, which he promised to work on resolving during his election campaign.

At the same time, Biden will be able to continue providing military and financial support to Ukraine despite the threats of some Republican leaders.

And the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives means that Biden's legislative agenda is essentially dead, unless he can find compromises and bipartisan support for some proposals that benefit both of them.

Biden's focus during the next two years of his presidency will likely be on defending his signature achievements, such as a bill to lower drug prices and investing hundreds of billions of dollars to tackle climate change.

On the other hand, GOP lawmakers are already saying they want to roll back some of Biden's programs, or defund many of them.

The midterm elections for Congress did not give the Republicans a big victory, but they will hinder the work of the Badin administration during the next two years (Reuters)

What are the most important files that concern Americans in 2023?

Internally, 2023 will not witness many hot events that will make it an exceptional year by American standards, which is no longer distinguished by the societal division between conservatives and liberals, or the continuation of sharp political polarization between the Republican and Democratic parties, with the continued widening of the gap between them.

However, the immigration file emerges as one of the issues that fall on the side of the Republican Party, hence this issue will be highlighted after the White House and the liberal media worked to mitigate its seriousness and intensity over the past two years.

Americans' interest in the economy, inflation and rising prices will not diminish during the new year, especially with many economists expecting to fall into an economic recession in 2023.


What are the most important files transferred from 2022?

Reforming voting and voting systems is one of the most important issues that Congress or the Supreme Court have not resolved in 2022. Since former President Donald Trump questioned the integrity of the 2020 elections, Republicans and Democrats agreed on the need to reform the voting system, method, and procedures, but each side sees the crisis from a contradictory angle. And opposite to what the other party sees.

It calls for each party to adopt an electoral reform package that claims to target the integrity and credibility of the electoral process, but its essence aims to support the chances of each party's candidates in future elections.


What effect does a small Republican majority in the House of Representatives have on what they can accomplish?

The smallness of the Republican majority may limit House Leader Kevin McCarthy's ability to move freely, as he must take into account the gathering of Trump supporters in the House, and among the traditional Republicans who are interested in passing a balanced agenda beneficial to Americans in light of the difficult conditions in which they live.

The result of the midterm elections does not grant a significant mandate to either party, nor to any bloc within the two axes.

Accordingly, it is expected that there will be a lot of compromises and compromises, especially since the Democrats control the Senate, and they may obstruct any reckless initiatives on the part of the House Republicans.


How can Republicans paralyze the Joe Biden administration over the next two years?

Republican Representative James Comer, the new chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, pledged to conduct investigations into at least 6 cases that would cripple Biden in his last two years in office, and these cases are:

  • The crisis of open borders, the influx of illegal immigrants, and the spread of fentanyl.

  • Wasting more than $560 billion in COVID-19 relief.

  • The origin of the Covid virus, and is there a role for American laboratories or funding for the Chinese Wuhan region laboratories?

  • The chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

  • Energy crisis and high fuel prices with restrictions on American producers.

  • The corruption of Hunter Biden, the president's son, especially his suspicious relationship with trade deals with Ukraine and China.