NEW—The Biden foreign policy doctrine is taking shape, but Democrats are still figuring out how to live with it
My look at how Dems are struggling to influence a POTUS guided by decades of experience & a belief that diplomacy should be conducted privately politico.com/news/2021/05/2…
Pressure from Dems on Israel + yesterday’s decision to waive sanctions on Nord Stream 2 have shown Democrats they have little sway over Biden on the world stage.
“President Biden will be his own secretary of state,” SFRC Chairman Menendez told me.
Sen. Chris Coons with some 🔥
“I strongly doubt that just a few sharply worded cable TV interviews or resolutions by junior members of the House are going to pressure the president of the United States.”
Sen. @ChrisMurphyCT says Dems’ disagreements are more “tactical” & that GOP has abandoned support for two-state solution over past 4 years.
"We support, as a party, a Palestinian state. We always have. And we’re talking about the mechanisms by which we effectuate that policy.”
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New this morning: Democrats embrace a tougher tack toward Israel as violence flares in the region. Biden now under pressure from the left to forcefully condemn Israeli settlements, looming evictions, & strikes like the one in Gaza this morning.
“We’re in this moment today because Hamas made a horrible mistake and fired rockets unprovoked into Israel. But we also got here because the Israeli government has effectively eliminated the prospect of a viable future Palestinian state,” Sen. @ChrisMurphyCT told me.
“it’s even more important for the United States to draw a harder line with the Israeli gov’t and demand that these settlements and these evictions and these displacements stop,” Murphy says. “Because the violence will not end...if the Palestinians feel like they have no future”
NEW: Lawmakers are opening up about the years-long failure to adequately address Havana syndrome & the more recent growing threat of directed-energy attacks on Americans overseas & at home.
“We owe this to our people,” Senate Intel chair tells me
“The fact that we’re five years into this and we’re still making sure we’ve got the protocols to one, take care of our people who are injured, two, [identify] who did this, and three, [identify] what tools or weapons did they use — these are all critical questions,” Warner says
Senate Intel vice chair Rubio agrees, says “it’s almost like the burden of proof is on these individuals, and given the nature of the injuries they’ve suffered, I don’t think it was initially treated the way it should’ve been.”
I reported in Feb. 2020 that Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), then-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, privately warned Johnson that his Biden investigations were aiding Russian disinformation efforts
Graham sticks up for Kerry: “I don’t know if we should trust that tape or not. If it’s true, it’s very damaging. I like John Kerry, but that would not be helpful & it would be very problematic if it were true. But let’s wait and see how authentic this is.” politico.com/news/2021/04/2…
If Zarif’s accounting is accurate, it would not be the first time that a top American official revealed classified information to a foreign adversary. In 2017, Trump reportedly discussed Israeli intelligence information during an Oval Office meeting with top Russian officials.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) calls for John Kerry’s resignation from the National Security Council. Sullivan says this is the first time he has called for a resignation.
Sullivan says Kerry is “arrogantly killing American jobs ... in the name of climate goals.”
On the Senate floor, Sullivan is now referencing the leaked tape of Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif saying Kerry told him about covert Israeli operations against Iranian assets in Syria.
New: McConnell talks with @politico about the unfinished business of his 36-year Senate career — a longtime fascination with Myanmar so vital to his identity that after the recent military coup, Biden coordinated the U.S. response with him.
McConnell’s interest in Myanmar & friendship w/ Suu Kyi fly under the radar but it’s a defining aspect of a legacy he’s already cemented on judges & more.
The coup has elevated his role & influence even as he runs point on the opposition to Biden’s agenda politico.com/news/2021/04/1…
“On the domestic front, I have not yet witnessed something that I’ve been happy about,” McConnell told me. “But in this area, I think their instincts are good. I think they’re trying to do the right thing.”
He hasn’t spoken w/ his longtime friend Aung San Suu Kyi since the coup.