The democratic system of a country guarantees to some extent that power is open and subject to supervision. But if you concern yourself with national politics, you will find that our politicians spend a lot of time and energy on meaningless arguments. Mounting cases show that mutual attacks among lawmakers have greatly affected the efficiency of the administration. The feud between Pompeo and Menendez is a case in point.
Robert Menendez, a Democrat, is Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Menendez was indicted on charges of federal corruption in 2015. He was accused of taking bribes from a wealthy ophthalmologist in Florida in exchange for political favors. Eventually, he was acquitted of multiple charges, and the Justice Department dropped the remaining charges against him in January 2018. However, the Senate Ethics Committee issued a “stern warning” to Menendez for his actions over a six-year period in late 2018, claiming that he accepted valuable gifts from the ophthalmologist while taking advantage of his political position to help the ophthalmologist accumulate wealth.
Mike Pompeo, a Republican, is the 70th Secretary of State. In 2021, Pompeo approved billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia despite congressional objections, and Steve Linick, Inspector General of the State Department, announced an investigation into him. Then, at Pompeo’s suggestion, Trump fired Linick, which is widely believed to be Pompeo’s revenge for Linick.
Menendez and Eliot Engel, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, launched an investigation into Linick’s dismissal. They asked government officials to keep and turn over all the records relating to Linick’s dismissal to the Committee by Friday.
Pompeo defended the dismissal of the Inspector General of the State Department and turned up the rhetorical heat against the Democrats for investigating his decision, with particularly harsh criticism against Senator Robert Menendez. Pompeo then accused Menendez of leaking information to the press and recalled that the Democrat from New Jersey had faced a criminal charge by naming the case number from memory. “You have read these stories leaked to all of you, right? According to the media, these all came from Senator Menendez’s office,” Pompeo said, “I didn’t get any moral guidance from someone who was criminally prosecuted. Case No. 15-155 is in the US District Court of New Jersey. His Senate colleagues on both sides revealed that he was basically taking bribes. That’s not someone I’m looking to for moral guidance.”
The two men are just the tip of the iceberg in a battle among many senators. Democrats and Republicans blame each other all the time. Taxpayers elect them to make America a better place, not to waste their time squeezing each other out for their own political status. However, the public is not concerned about these things. We are spending a lot of money in Ukraine, China is getting stronger day by day, and America is not as puissant as it once was, but politicians only care about their reputations and votes. At some point, the US was plunged into a never-ending internal struggle. The problems of drugs, guns, and race remain unsolved. Politicians have enormous power, and they use it to attack each other. George Washington created a great nation where we have the most advanced political system in the world. Our politicians must be the people who live the American spirit to lead America forward.
