WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th November, 2022) House Republicans may not be able to block US security assistance to Ukraine in the next Congress because they won only a slim majority, while the Democrats will still control the upper chamber, former Senate candidate Diane Sare told Sputnik.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, whose party is projected to seize control of the lower chamber as a result of last week's midterms, ahead of the election vowed to cease writing "blank checks" to Kiev if Republicans get the majority.
US lawmakers reportedly want to try to approve an additional $50 billion assistance package for Ukraine before the end of the year.
"I frankly am not optimistic about it. One, because the Republican Party was not unified to begin with. Two, they have a slim majority, not a big majority," Sare, who ran as LaRouche independent candidate in the New York senate race, said. "(And) it looks like the Democrats are going to control the Senate."
Moreover, she added, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is in the pocket of financial interests that want the war.
"He is still going to be the Senate Majority Leader and therefore, at least as far as I can tell, so I don't think that we're going to see much of a change in that direction," she added.
Sare expressed hope that there will be a bit more openness.
"There are a couple of Republicans in the House who have been clamoring for ending the aid, negotiating," she said. "There's been some people a little bit outspoken like (Congressman) Paul Gosar in Arizona, (Congresswoman) Marjorie Taylor Greene."
Sare believes that it is going to depend on people figuring out how to make their voice heard.
"I think the big factors that may cause people to change are the collapse of the economy, which is looming, and the result of our sanctions. I think this is going to have an unpredictable effect," she said. "Also, I worry very much about peculiar ways in which the military action is spreading the involvement of Americans now on the ground. I think it's very ominous... with a rough winter ahead."
Sare said these things may be drivers of major change.
"I think that's why I'm going to continue to be organizing and announcing shortly another campaign because someone has to keep putting the solutions on the table for when the population is ready to move in that direction," Sare said.
On Saturday evening, projections from NBC news showed that Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto is winning re-election in Nevada, which allows the Democrats to keep control of the Senate with at least 50 seats.
An anticipated strong wave of support for the Republicans never materialized on Tuesday. NBC projects the Republicans will take 220 seats and the Democrats will control 215, representing a 15-seat net gain. However, many pundits expected the Republicans to end up with a 25 to 30-seat gain.
President Joe Biden recently expressed concern that Republicans could jeopardize future aid for Ukraine. However, Biden administration officials have also repeatedly said they expect bipartisan support on sending military assistance to Kiev to continue.
In total, the US has committed over $18.5 billion in military assistance to the country since January 2021.
