Democratic Gains, North Korean Pains? Congress’s Limited Impact on DPRK Policy

The following is an excerpt from an op‐​ed I wrote explaining why the 2018 midterm election will not have a significant impact on how the Trump administration conducts its diplomatic outreach with North Korea: 

A divided Congress will likely serve as a brake against most of Donald Trump’s policy agenda. But in one critical issue area—the diplomatic efforts to denuclearize North Korea—congressional divisions will not have a significant impact. For better or worse, the executive branch in general and Trump in particular will be able to deal with North Korea as they see fit.


The new Congress is bound to have some effect on Trump’s approach to North Korea, but the impact of the legislative branch should not be overstated. At the end of the day, the executive branch still holds most of the power and control over the U.S.-North Korea diplomatic process. Most of Congress’s impact will therefore be constrained to the margins of U.S. policy.

To read the rest of the article, go to NK News: 


https://​www​.nknews​.org/​2​0​1​8​/​1​1​/​d​e​m​o​c​r​a​t​i​c​-​g​a​i​n​s​-​n​o​r​t​h​-​k​o​r​e​a​n​-​p​a​i​n​s​-​c​o​n​g​r​e​s​s​s​-​l​i​m​i​t​e​d​-​i​m​p​a​c​t​-​o​n​-​d​p​r​k​-​p​o​licy/.