Chapter 783: Political Struggle

Pittsburgh City Hall, Mayor’s Office.

Leo Wallace sat in his office chair, watching the breaking news about the resolution on the television screen. His brows furrowed slightly.

“Can this resolution actually pass?” Leo looked at Ethan, who was standing in front of the whiteboard. “I remember radical representatives proposing similar withdrawal bills in the past, like those regarding Yemen or Syria.”

Leo searched his memory for those legislative attempts that ended up going nowhere. “Right now on Capitol Hill, both the Senate and the House of Representatives are under the control of the Democratic Party. Under normal legislative procedures, the Speaker has absolute control over the agenda. If they don’t want a bill to see the light of day, it rots in a committee drawer without even a chance for a floor vote. Wouldn’t they just suppress this proposal and let it disappear into endless hearings?”

Under Washington’s rules, the majority leader was the gatekeeper of the legislative process. As long as they didn’t want a vote, even if one had the greatest justification in the world, they could only stare helplessly from outside the door.

But Ethan’s expression was more solemn than ever. “This time is different, Mr. Wallace.”

Ethan walked up to the desk. “According to the special provisions of the War Powers Act, a joint resolution involving an overseas troop withdrawal has privileged procedures.”

“Privileged procedures?” Leo only understood the laws he needed to use and was unfamiliar with this Capitol Hill jargon.

“Yes, it’s the ultimate weapon established by Congress to check the President’s war powers,” Ethan explained. “Once the privileged procedures are invoked, this resolution is no longer subject to the Speaker’s schedule.”

He held up a finger. “Fifteen days after submission, regardless of whether the relevant committee has completed its review, and regardless of whether the Speaker agrees or not, it will automatically be forced onto the floor for a full chamber debate and must go through a mandatory final vote. No one can stop it.”

Ethan took a deep breath. “The fuse of this bomb has been lit, and no one can put it out.”

Leo leaned back in his chair, lost in thought. He quickly calculated the political math. If the resolution passed in Congress, the President would be forced to withdraw troops from the Persian Gulf in disgrace before the entire world. This wouldn’t just turn a war launched to distract from domestic conflicts into a complete joke; more fatally, the President himself would go down in infamy, forever known as the most weak and incompetent Commander-in-Chief in United States history. At a critical juncture like an election year, the collapse of his public image would be devastating.

“The White House has been pushed to the brink,” Leo said in a low voice.

Ethan nodded. “The President’s only way out right now is to reach a ceasefire agreement with Iran as soon as possible, using a decent victory in diplomacy to cover up the embarrassment of the military and the leaks. But he has to survive Congress first. If Congress passes the withdrawal resolution before he can negotiate, he won’t have any leverage left at the negotiating table.”

“So,” Leo concluded to himself, “over the next fifteen days, the White House must block this resolution in both chambers of Congress at all costs.”

His gaze sharpened. Doing so at all costs meant that the White House needed votes—every single vote that could be cast in opposition.

“Ethan.” Leo looked up. “How many votes can the Progressives control right now?”

“Counting our own, as well as those deeply tied Rust Belt representatives,” Ethan answered, “twenty-two votes, three of which are Senators.”

A cold smirk touched the corners of Leo’s mouth. In normal times, twenty-two votes might not change the big picture. But right now, with the seats of the two parties in the House of Representatives being extremely close, and the White House facing a do-or-die mandatory vote, these twenty-two votes were the very weights that would tip the scales of life and death.

“It seems,” Leo picked up the cold coffee from his desk and took a light sip, “that we and the White House will have to sit down and talk again.”

Before Leo could rejoice for long, Roosevelt’s voice rang out.

“Do you think this can back the President into a corner?” Roosevelt let out a light chuckle that echoed in Leo’s mind.

Leo was somewhat puzzled. “Isn’t this a privileged procedure? It’s a mandatory vote that can’t be delayed. Once the resolution passes, the President must withdraw the troops. Is that not a dead end?”

“Leo, you play local politics very well, and your application of state laws and administrative rules is masterful. But when it comes to the grand game at the federal level, you still have too little experience,” Roosevelt said with a calm tone. “You’ve overestimated the teeth of Congress and underestimated the President’s shield.

“Even if these two bills eventually pass in both chambers of Congress, so what?

“Don’t forget the trump card granted to the President by the Constitution: the veto power.

“Once the President uses the veto to strike down the bill, if Congress wants to force it through, they will need an absolute two-thirds majority in both chambers.

“Do you think it’s possible to gather a two-thirds vote to slap the President in the face in today’s extremely polarized Washington?”

Leo furrowed his brows and answered honestly, “The possibility is extremely low. There will always be enough representatives from his own party casting opposing votes just to save the administration’s face.”

“Exactly,” Roosevelt pointed out the truth. “Therefore, whether it’s the harshly worded bill from the House of Representatives or the seemingly mild restrictive clauses from the Senate, on a legal level, they are both merely paper tigers.”

“Then what are they fussing about?” Leo asked.

“Making a statement, or rather, taking a side,” Roosevelt said. “According to the latest polling data, the overall national support for the airstrikes on Iran is only about a quarter. The vast majority of Americans express opposition or dissatisfaction, and they believe that fighting this war will increase the threats facing the United States. What do you think this means?”