MOSCOW. Nov 3 (Interfax) - With the Republican Party now in control of the U.S. House of Representatives following wins in the mid-term elections, President Barack Obama will find it difficult to implement his agenda, said Mikhail Margelov, head of the Russian Federation Council's international affairs committee.
Hard times are beginning for the Obama administration, Margelov told Interfax on Wednesday.
"Republican victories in the U.S. mid-term elections has given them a firm majority in the House of Representatives, allowing them to put in their own speaker and committee chairmen and to successfully block the U.S. president's healthcare and tax reforms and to fight for cutting public spending," he said.
Despite losing the House, Obama's Democratic Party has retained control of the Senate with a 51-seat majority.
This should allow for the smooth ratification of the new nuclear arms control treaty, or New START, signed by the Russian and American presidents earlier this year, Margelov said.
"I do not think that the U.S. foreign policy agenda, at least regarding its relations with Russia, will change drastically. However, we feel more comfortable about offering work to those who we started it with," he said.
He is, however, counting on the Republicans to offer support to repeal the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment.
"It will be them (Republican Party) who after Russia's successful accession to the WTO, that we are so hopeful of will have to consider the repeal of the notorious Jackson-Vanik amendment," Margelov said.