JD Vance: A new era in American politics

James David Vance (JD VANCE), born on August 2, 1984, is an American politician, lawyer, author and a veteran of the US Marine Corps. He has been serving as Ohio’s junior senator since 2023. As a member of the Republican Party, he is the party’s candidate for vice president in the forthcoming 2024 election. Vance’s actions in Congress show his commitment to the ‘America First’ foreign policy, which he has promoted both in the Senate and at the Republican National Convention this week.

CONGRESS ACTIONS AND DECISIONS
‘Actions in Congress’ refer to the decisions and votes that a member of Congress—the legislative branch of the US government which consists of two parts, the Senate and the House of Representatives—makes on various issues and legislation. Congress is responsible for making laws, debating policies, and representing the interests of the public. ‘Actions in Congress’ include how members support or oppose different Bills and policies during their time in office.

TRUMP’S NEW VICE-PRESIDENT PICK
Former US President and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has chosen first-term senator Vance as his running mate. Vance criticizes the ‘foreign policy establishment’ and advocates for strong action in the Middle East, along with close relationships with Israel.

VANCE’S APPROACH TO FOREIGN POLICY
Vance said in his speech at the Republican National Committee (RNC) on July 17 that they would ensure that friendly countries, such as NATO members and other partner countries, contributed to maintaining world peace. There would be no more freebies for countries at the expense of American taxpayers. They would also send children to war only when absolutely necessary. He cited former President Trump’s victory over ISIS and other challenges, stating that when they took action, they would do so decisively.

Sworn into office in 2023, Vance has been in Congress for one year and seven months. In this brief time, the junior senator has made decisions that show how he may influence Middle East policy if Trump is elected president again. The advantage that a vice-president had over others was that they were usually the last person the president spoke to before deciding on any issue, said Professor Gordon Gray, a former US ambassador to Tunisia and a senior adviser to the US ambassador to Iraq, in an interview with AL-MONITOR.

VANCE A DISILLUSIONED VETERAN OF IRAQ
Two decades after he served as a US Marine in Iraq, Vance, 39, has become one of the strongest critics among Republican members of Congress of the US invasion in 2003. His focus on avoiding foreign conflicts is different from the more aggressive views that many Republican lawmakers have had in the past.

He voted to cancel the 2002 law that allowed George W Bush to start the invasion to remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. From the Senate floor, he has expressed his disappointment with US foreign policy and its goal of spreading and defending democracies around the world. Vance said in April he realized he had been misled and that the promises made by the foreign policy leaders were completely false.

Vance strongly criticizes the invasion and said in a speech at the Quincy Institute this month that it “created a supporter of Iran in the Middle East”. He warns that there is a “real fear of more fighting” in the region since Iran attacked Israel and he says the US should try to keep the conflict under control.

VANCE A STRONG SUPPORTER OF ISRAEL
Vance is a strong supporter of Israel. However, he voted against emergency military aid for Israel last April. His opposition sprang from the fact that congressional leaders had clubbed together $26 billion for Israel and Gaza with $61 billion in wartime aid for Ukraine. The senator took part in several unsuccessful efforts by Republicans to pass a separate emergency aid Bill just for Israel.

Vance has said that his Senate colleagues’ support for Ukraine’s defence was like their “shameful” backing of the false stories that had led to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He said in his speech at the Quincy Institute he admired the Ukrainians fighting against Russia, but did not believe it was in America’s interest to keep funding what seemed like an endless war in Ukraine.

After the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, Vance voted against confirming Jacob Lew as President Biden’s ambassador to Israel. While some Republicans who voted for Lew felt it was important to fill the empty position during a crucial time in US-Israeli relations, Vance was one of the 43 Republicans who voted against him.

SUPPORT & IMMIGRATION FOR PALESTINIANS
Vance led a letter to Biden, asking the president not to give special protections to Palestinian immigrants escaping the war in Gaza. He said they should seek ways to lower the number of terrorist sympathizers in America, not increase it.

Recently, Vance joined other Republicans to support Senator Ted Cruz’s effort to close the pier—a structure that extends into the water, allowing ships to dock and load or unload goods—that the Biden Administration built off the coast of Gaza to help deliver important humanitarian aid.

Vance also voted against speeding up a Bill by Senator Bernie Sanders that would require the State Department to update Congress on Israel’s compliance with international human rights laws. The Biden Administration later released a national security memo called NSM-20. This memo agreed to similar reporting rules as those in the Bill.

Vance believes the US has not done well at “micro-managing” wars in the Middle East. He told CNN in an interview in May that Israel should be free to make its own decisions about the war without pressure from the US and blames Hamas for the large number of Palestinian civilian deaths. In the same interview, Vance spoke of a “new Middle East” and mentioned US efforts to help Israel and Saudi Arabia reach a normalization agreement.

USHA VANCE: A STRONG BACKGROUND
Usha Chilukuri Vance, 38, is married to Vance and has a rich background that reflects Indian traditions and values. She grew up in a suburb of San Diego as the daughter of Indian immigrants. Usha is a lawyer at a national firm and has an impressive education. She earned her bachelor’s degree in History from Yale University and a Master of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge, as reported by The New York Times.

(The author of this article is a Defence, Aerospace & Political Analyst based in Bengaluru. He is also Director of ADD Engineering Components, India, Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany. You can reach him at: girishlinganna@gmail.com)

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own and do not reflect those of DNA)