The US House of Representatives last week authorized an impeachment inquiry into US President Joe Biden. The vote went strictly along party lines, with every Republican voting for it and every Democrat against. Clearly, the US House epitomizes the political divide in the country.
Today, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are on par with one another, each supported equally by Americans. As a result, the US government has often become paralyzed due to a lack of collaboration between the parties. Worse, the House and the White House tend to hold each other back, leaving the entire government in limbo.
During the US midterm elections in November last year, the Republicans gained a narrow majority in the House. This was the starting point of the most recent political turbulence in the US. In January, Kevin McCarthy was elected House speaker after 15 rounds of voting. Nine months later, he was ousted. In exchange for being elected, McCarthy allegedly promised his right-wing colleagues an impeachment inquiry into Biden. It is believed that he revised regulations to make the impeachment procedure easier.
In September, McCarthy worked with the Democrats to pass a funding bill to avoid a government shutdown. Some Republicans were outraged by his move and planned to oust him from the speakership.
The polarization of the two parties resulted in a political quagmire in which the Republicans and the Democrats always oppose each other’s agendas. For example, even though McCarthy sought a bipartisan collaboration that would benefit the Biden administration, the Democrats still unanimously voted to oust him.
New US House Speaker Mike Johnson tried to suspend the impeachment inquiry into Biden, but faced great political pressure from fellow Republicans, who wanted to take revenge on the Democrats for twice impeaching former US president Donald Trump.
Without a majority in the US Congress, the extremists in each party often gain more power, and because of them, the legislative branch becomes paralyzed and left in limbo. When hardliners become more influential, they become even fiercer, while the moderates can only give ground. This leads to a vicious circle, and polarization intensifies.
US society is also under the influence of such divisions and antagonism. According to The Atlantic, US democracy is in trouble. The democratic recession cannot be more obvious today.
The Global Times, owned by the Chinese Communist Party, was happy to see political turmoil in the US. In an editorial, the newspaper wrote that political affairs in the US demonstrate the problems with the country’s political system, which are becoming more serious each day.
Undoubtedly, the impotence of the US House and the potential shutdown of the federal government have influenced the country’s ability to conduct foreign affairs. It has severely damaged the reputation and leadership of the US, as evidenced by the Republicans’ interference in approving urgent military aid to Ukraine and Israel.
To restore its system of governance, the US can only hope for and depend on democracy’s own mechanisms to repair itself and put things back on the right track. For voters in Taiwan, this is a valuable lesson. It is imperative to keep the legislature stable by maintaining a majority. Taiwanese should not let the Legislative Yuan become polarized. An intense antagonism between the ruling and the opposition parties must be avoided.
Chen Yung-chang is a company manager.
Translated by Emma Liu
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