There is a simple rule in diplomacy: it is never worth closing the door to people who may have real power in their hands in a few weeks or two years.
The midterm elections for the US Congress are approaching. Americans will elect the entire House of Representatives and part of the Senate. Today, Republicans control Congress, but the situation may change. And that is why for foreign diplomats in Washington, not only contacts with Donald Trump's people and the Republican majority are now important. Relations with Democrats are becoming equally important.
This is how Washington works
This is nothing extraordinary or unique to the current elections. This is how Washington works. An embassy that does its job well cannot base its contacts on only one party. If a Republican is in the White House, you obviously need to have access to his administration. You have to know people in the State Department, the Pentagon, the National Security Council and around the president. But at the same time, we need to talk to the Democrats. And vice versa. When Joe Biden was president, foreign missions maintained contacts not only with his administration and Democrats, but also with Republicans.
Why? Because the American political system can change the balance of power very quickly. The entire House of Representatives is elected every two years. One-third of the Senate is renewed every two years. And the administration may change every four years. A man who today is a rank-and-file opposition congressman may become the chairman of one of the most important Congress committees in a few months.
And then suddenly it can affect billions of dollars, sanctions, arms sales, foreign aid or US policy towards a particular country. Therefore, foreign diplomacy cannot start building relations the day after the elections. By then it is often too late. Contacts are built in advance - there are meetings with congressmen and senators. Even more often with their advisors and committee staff, because it is they who prepare draft laws, briefings and questions asked later during hearings. There are talks in embassies, conferences, meetings organized by think tanks. There are visits of parliamentarians, experts and ministers. And very often the most important part of such a meeting is not even a specific request.
It's about "knowing each other"
It's about knowing each other. So that when a crisis occurs, you can pick up the phone and call the right person. If the Democrats take over the House of Representatives, the chairmen of all the committees will change, and that is a huge change. Take the Foreign Affairs Committee: today it is controlled by Republicans. After the majority changes, the Democrats would take over the leadership. The same would apply to committees dealing with the armed forces, intelligence, budget and internal security.
And it's not just a change of names on office doors. The chairman of the committee decides what topics will be the subject of hearings, who the committee will summon, what issues it will investigate and which bills will be treated as priority. Democrats are already preparing for such a scenario. If they take over the House, they announce extensive use of Congress's oversight function over Donald Trump's administration. They talk about investigations regarding, among others, the business activities of the president's family, the actions of the administration and some foreign policy decisions.
This means that foreign capitals must also take into account that in a few weeks their most important interlocutor on Capitol Hill may be someone completely different than today. And here we come to one more very important thing. A good country does not build relations with one party in Washington, it builds relations with the United States. This is a fundamental difference: if a country becomes identified exclusively with Democrats, it may have a problem when Republicans return to power. If he puts everything on the Republicans, he may wake up without the right contacts after a Democratic victory. This was very clearly visible after the 2024 presidential elections. After Donald Trump's victory, foreign diplomats began to intensively seek contacts with people who could be in his administration. This perfectly illustrates why professional diplomacy strives to maintain channels on both sides of the American political dispute.
How does this apply to Poland?
This also applies to Poland, because regardless of who rules in Warsaw and who sits in the White House, contacts with both Republicans and Democrats should be important for Poland. Decisions about Poland are not made only in the Oval Office. Congress approves the money. Congress passes the Pentagon budget. Senators approve many of the most important nominations. Congress can pass sanctions, aid packages, and military cooperation regulations.
Diplomacy is not just about the White House
In the case of Ukraine, in recent years we have seen very clearly how important the Capitol is. The president may declare support, but without money approved by Congress, many actions are simply not possible. That's why in Washington, diplomacy is not just about the White House. There are also hundreds of offices on Capitol Hill. And sometimes, much more important than meeting a politician who is on the headlines today is meeting a person whose name most people do not know yet. Because in a few months he may head the commission that will decide on key issues for your country.
