Democrats ,won control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections,. Trump lost the building. He kept the war.
Here is the fine print. ,Trump will maintain significant control over U.S. foreign policy,, while Democrats get the purse strings, the committee chairs, and a say on nominees. He keeps the bombs. They keep the checkbook. It is a divorce where he gets the dog and she gets the dog's vet bills.
On Iran, ,Democrats could block additional funding for the conflict and investigate the administration's decisions, once the new Congress convenes in January. Subpoenas. Hearings. Staffers with binders. Nothing says "wind down a war" like a seven-hour hearing with a poster board.
On Ukraine, Democrats want oversight of ,the administration's recent waiver of Russia sanctions and its diesel deal,. A diesel deal. Somewhere, a congressional aide is about to learn what a barrel is.
The veto is the punchline. ,Congress would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override a presidential veto., Democrats have a majority. Two-thirds is a different sport.
Analysts also warn Trump may go the other way. ,He may take on an even more adventurist foreign policy, including in the Middle East, as he faces real constraints on his domestic agenda., Block a man at home and he heads abroad. Every divorced uncle at a timeshare follows the same logic.
Retail traders will read all this and buy oil calls. They will call it a thesis. It is a coin flip with a Bloomberg terminal's vocabulary.
The chart does not care who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee. The chart has never once read a subpoena.
Congress finally got a seat at the table. The table is on fire, and the president still holds the only fire extinguisher.
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