State Secretary Mike Pompeo
Mike PompeoTop UN official to ask the US to reverse Houthis’s terrorist designation, warning of the mass famine of Chinese dissidents who deny Trump’s defeat reinforce China’s propaganda The Hill’s Morning Report – How many Republicans will vote for Trump’s impeachment ? MORE is forcing last-minute foreign policy decisions before the president-elect Joe Biden
Joe BidenCotton: The Senate lacks the authority to hold the impeachment trial when Trump leaves office Marjorie Taylor Greene says he will present impeachment articles against Biden ICE that the incumbent director resigns weeks after taking office MORETrump’s inauguration as part of an effort to cement his and the Trump administration’s legacy in his last tumultuous and violent days in office.
The moves are likely to hamper Biden’s efforts to reverse Trump-era policy measures, creating a long list of intricate policies, large and small, that will take time, effort and organization to unravel.
With less than a week in office, while much of Washington is focused on President Trump
Donald TrumpCotton: The Senate lacks the authority to hold an impeachment trial as soon as Trump leaves office Marjorie Taylor Greene says he will present impeachment articles against Biden ICE that the incumbent director resigns weeks after taking office MOREIn the second impeachment, Pompeo instituted a flurry of policy changes and accelerated a public relations campaign to publicize the government’s achievements.
He elevated US relations with Taiwan in an affront to China, designated the Iranian-backed Houthis of Yemen as a terrorist organization and placed Cuba back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Ryan Hass, a senior member of the Brookings Institution, called Saturday’s announcement about Taiwan as “the policy-making equivalent of being run over.”
Pompeo “announced a policy change on one of America’s most sensitive foreign policy issues in his last days in office, and with full knowledge that he will not be around to face the consequences,” said Hass.
Ash Jain, a senior member of the Atlantic Council who served as a State Department official in the Republican and Democratic administrations, said that Pompeo’s last-minute actions “reflect a desire to box in the next administration.”
Removing the Houthis’ designation as a terrorist organization is an area where Biden is likely to have bipartisan support.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans sympathize with Houthi separatists, holding them responsible for serious atrocities in Yemen’s six-year civil war and dangerous allies with Iran, but Pompeo’s recent action against them has united lawmakers in the opposition, saying that such designation would prevent the delivery of critical humanitarian aid to areas controlled by Houthi.
Experts say Pompeo’s action on the Houthis is part of his effort to solidify his legacy in Iran.
The secretary is the main executor of the government’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran, a policy aimed at financially and diplomatically isolating the Islamic Republic in an effort to thwart its nuclear ambitions and eliminate threats from its representative forces in the Middle East.
“The government is trying to strengthen its pressure campaign against Iran before the Biden government, especially because of concerns that Biden might try to return to an agreement with Iran,” said Varsha Koduvayur, research analyst at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies , a hawkish Washington think tank.
Biden promised to return the US to the 2015 Obama-era nuclear deal if Iran resumes compliance. The deal aims to reduce Iran’s uranium enrichment to levels that would significantly delay the time it would take to obtain nuclear capabilities.
The Trump administration, driven by Republican support, withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, and Pompeo remained energetic in his arguments against any rapprochement with Iran.
“We are not going to lie to the American people about Iranian moderation and pretend that appeasement will work,” Pompeo said in a speech Tuesday at the National Press Club.
He later announced new sanctions against members of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda that he is harboring in Iran, adding to what he said were almost 1,500 sanctions charged by the Trump administration against individuals and entities that contribute revenue to the Iranian government.
Pompeo announced further sanctions on Wednesday, targeting two charities controlled by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accusing the charities of corruption and enriching the religious and political leader.
Tehran is likely to benefit from immediate relief from sanctions if the U.S. re-enters into the 2015 nuclear deal, although that does not eliminate all those imposed by Trump.
Kaleigh Thomas, an associate member of the Center for New American Security, said that while the Trump administration’s political decisions are not impossible to reverse by Biden, they will still consume time and energy.
“It will take time, effort and potentially even political capital to determine which policies should be reversed and really undo those identified as obstacles to the implementation of the Biden government’s agenda,” she said.
“And in the context of the entire Biden administration you will have to address outside the Middle East portfolio from day one – including the ongoing pandemic and the Capitol uprising last week – it is important to remember that time, effort and political capital are finite resources. “
It is not clear how these resources will be directed to action in Cuba. Pompeo’s last-minute appointment of the country as a sponsor of terrorism is being seen as a direct affront and an obstruction to Biden’s promise to return to the Obama-era diplomatic commitment to Havana.
“Secretary Pompeo arrogantly defended Donald Trump’s worst foreign policy failures and, on his way out the door, seems to have the intention of making things as difficult as possible for his successor,” said the senator. Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph LeahySenior Democrat says Hawley, Cruz must leave Judiciary Congress reveals $ 0.3 trillion in government spending and virus relief package Bottom line MORE (D-Vt.), An advocate of engagement with Cuba, and the most senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Lawrence Ward, a partner at the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney who works with international companies to avoid conflicting with federal sanctions against foreign governments, said reversing Cuba’s designation will require time and energy that will be critical to larger issues such as fighting COVID-19 and facing more threatening foreign adversaries.
“Removing the designation would require Congress to be certified. And because the Biden government will be focused on getting as much bipartisan support as possible on a number of important domestic issues, it is difficult to imagine that the government will prioritize such certification over ongoing tensions with China, Iran and Russia, ”he said.
Jain, of the Atlantic Council, expressed more optimism about the Biden government’s ability to quickly reverse or reduce some of Pompeo’s last-minute movements.
“Most of these policies can be easily reversed and Biden’s team is sure to take a close look at each of these last-minute actions. In others, it may be necessary to navigate through various review processes, ”he said.
Pompeo, who is considered a potential presidential candidate in 2024, has been using his official government Twitter account since January 1 to expose what he considers his and the Trump administration’s greatest success.
On Wednesday, he said goodbye before Biden took office, saying followers must migrate to your personal page.
“In a week, I will stop being Secretary of State and this account will be closed. Make sure to follow me @mikepompeo. Go do it now. “