Jack Reed’s first term in the U.S. Senate coincided with the so-called “vacation from history.” That was the period between the end of the Cold War and 9/11, a time marked by a lack of conflict on the world stage. Now, things are very different. The state of war between Hamas and Israel raises concerns about a wider regional conflict. U.S. policymakers are focused on the rising power of China. The war in Ukraine grinds on. Autocrats control a number of nations. In the U.S., the House of Representatives is marked by instability, many Americans have lost faith in government, and the country is edging closer to a high-stakes presidential race. As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Reed has a front seat for many of these issues. In this week’s installment of Political Roundtable, Ian Donnis goes in depth with Rhode Island’s senior U.S. senator, Jack Reed. Listen to the interview or read the transcript below.
Ian Donnis: The world has been shaken by the Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s response. As you look to the weeks, months and years ahead, how would you sketch out the potential best-case, worst-case scenario?
Jack Reed: Best-case is that with our international support, the Israeli Defense Forces move in to Gaza and identify Hamas and begin to remove them from the battlefield and do so with very precise use of airpower, minimizing civilian casualties, and essentially, identifying the leadership and taking that leadership out totally. And then, after the fighting, a renewed effort to come up with a framework that will be stable and peaceful in that area. And it’s eluded us for decades and decades and decades.
Donnis: How about the worst-case scenario?
Reed: Worst-case scenario is that Hezbollah in Lebanon could actively be involved. They have 1000s and 1000s of missiles that present a real challenge to the air defense system of Israel and wreak havoc on the state of Israel. That also could be complemented by attacks from Syria by Iranian-based elements. Part of this is Iran’s position in terms of trying to either increase this violence, stay away from it, or hopefully actually really tried to decelerate it. But the worst-case would be a second front with huge damage to not just the Israelis, but to the surrounding countries.
Donnis: There’s a humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. It’s been cut off from food, electricity, etc. Is Israel being too indiscriminate in its response?
Reed: No, they’re not. Their response so far is very, very targeted towards trying to take out Hamas. And we are working with the Egyptians particularly, to open up a safe corridor from Gaza to Egypt, so that Palestinian civilians, innocent Palestinians, can find some sanctuary in Egypt, and that Americans or Palestinian-Americans in Gaza can find a way out.
Donnis: You took office as a senator in 1997. That was after the Cold War had ended, and there was kind of a lull in crises on the international scene. Now there’s land war in Europe, China’s rising power, a small Hamas force was able to shock the top military power in the Middle East. Is the world we’re living in now more dangerous than when the US and the Soviet Union checked each other with nuclear weapons?
Reed: Well, it’s dangerous, but to make a comparison, less or more so, I don’t think that’s useful. This is a very dangerous time. It’s a very dangerous time for the points you mentioned. You have an active war of aggression by the Russians against the Ukrainian people. We have to stand with them, because if they lose, we lose. The president has done a remarkable job bringing NATO together, getting supplies in there. I’ve been in Kyiv. I’ve seen President Zelensky. I know the caliber of the fighting force — they are ferocious, and they’ll fight, but they can’t do it alone. If Russia prevails and the likelihood of their regime, Putin going after other countries, is high. And that could involve us directly in conflict because of NATO, all the Baltic countries are NATO members An attack against one, as we demonstrated in 9/11, is an attack against all, NATO joined us. Then you’ve got the situation in Israel. And as you point out, we have China. But we have some other things too. We have technologies that is emerging, that is, day by day is getting more and more difficult to understand, difficult to integrate to our military forces. AI, quantum computing, could be a revolutionary change in how we conduct military operations.
Donnis: To follow up on Ukraine, the US has spent more than $75 billion in aid and Ukraine is making very incremental gains. What will it take for Ukraine to win a victory in the war?
Reed: Well, they’re going to continue to fight throughout the winter, although mobility is so deterred by weather that no one anticipates a large-scale breakthrough. But they are so tenacious that they will fight through the winter, they will gain not huge amounts of territory, but I’m convinced continue to gain territory. This spring is going to be a key moment because that’s when the weather would favor a significant offensive. And I think they will be well prepared for that offensive. They’ll have had more experience using our not just ours, but other NATO allies’ tanks, their communication systems will be enhanced. They’ve done a lot of incredible improvisation there, which we’re learning from. And I think basically, if they can get to the sea of Azov, if they can separate the force of the Russian forces in the west from those in the east, get close to the Crimea border. I think at that point, Putin would have to start thinking about, how do I stop this?
Donnis: Let’s shift gears and talk about domestic politics. Steve Scalise in the House has won the nomination to be the next speaker. It’s been reported that years ago when he was a state representative in Louisiana, he attended a meeting of a white supremacist group. He later apologized for that. Should that be disqualifying for him as speaker?
Reed: Well, he described himself and this is his own words, I believe, he’s David Duke without the baggage, and as we know, David Duke was the prominent head of the Ku Klux Klan. So making that statement was absolutely irresponsible, as well as highly objectionable. Disqualification? Yes. I mean, certainly I would not have voted for him. But he has a tough battle and a tough battle is the fact that there is not unanimity in that caucus for him. And one of the problems and this is one of the reasons McCarthy collapsed is that to get those four or five extra votes, you have to make promises that are detrimental [to governing] the United States. So even if he wins, I think like McCarthy, he might end up losing.
Donnis: When we look to the presidential race next year, a lot of Democrats are worried there’s not been a large amount of enthusiasm for President Biden. At the same time. Democrats are very critical of Donald Trump. Do you see democracy being on the line in the presidential election next year?
Reed: Oh, absolutely. I think democracy is on the line right now. When you see the House of Representatives for the first time in history stop, because they have no speaker. That’s a wake-up call. When you see some of the partisan activities, the holds on military officers by Senator Tuberville for now, going on for months — we have hundreds of officers that need to be promoted to fill critical spots. That’s dysfunctional. They’re not politicians. They are military professionals dedicated to the Constitution and we hold them hostage. That’s outrageous. We don’t have an ambassador in Lebanon today or Israel, one of the two most critical countries in terms of diplomacy, because the ambassador to Lebanon is being held now, for reasons unrelated to the skill of that person or anything else. This is a sign of a democracy that has fractures and we have to fix them. And it’s going to take a bipartisan basis to do that. I must say in the Senate, at least, overall, we’ve done some bipartisan actions, we passed all of our appropriations bills, 12 of them on a bipartisan basis, led by Senator Murray of Washington and Senator Susan Collins of Maine. They were very bipartisan, very thoughtful. And we’ve done other bills on a bipartisan basis. But …
Donnis: Let me just stop you there because we have limited time. Democrats and Republicans have been unable for years to get together on an immigration legislation despite how blue states like Massachusetts and New York are now being pressured and struggling to deal with migrants. How come the two parties can’t come to terms on that?
Reed: Well, we worked together in 2006. In the Senate, we [had] bipartisan legislation led by my colleague and friend, John McCain, which was supported by President George W. Bush. He said he’d sign it. And then it went over to the House and got caught off in a Republican Congress that did not want a rational policy. We have to get back not just in the Senate, but in the House to sitting down and doing common sense things that protects our borders, allows for talented people to come in the United States, and not fall into this trap we have now where we’re arguing, while our borders are less secure than they should be.
Donnis: According to the Pew Research Center, support and confidence in the federal government is at a record low. What is your explanation for that?
Reed: Very easy. You look at the House, and it seems more like vaudeville than legislation. You’ve got individuals there that are, you know, all they want to do is get on the news. We have a senator in our side that’s holding up hundreds and hundreds of military promotions. So people look at that. And they say wait a second. Things used to run fairly routinely. There were ups and downs. There were bumps along the road. But basically, they got things done. They got budgets done, they got officers confirmed. They did all those things. Now they can’t do that. So that and also the polarization, I think caused by social media where news has been replaced by opinion and untruth in many cases that’s exacerbating the situation.
Donnis: As we sit here today, are you planning to seek re-election in 2026?
Reed: I plan to work hard every day so I am ready to go in 2026. And that’s the key, not only a key to re-election, but it’s also the key to effectively serving the state. This week, we had a manufacturers roundtable, we had a great discussion about things we can do to help manufacturing. This morning I met with the Realtors about legislation we can help. We have an incredible affordable housing problem. And I get so much inspiration and ideas from Rhode Island and I’m just going to keep working as hard as I can.
Donnis: You’d like dining out on the story of how as a young army second lieutenant you babysat for a bouncing baby girl named Gina Raimondo. Do you see her as a future presidential candidate?
Reed: Absolutely. Gina is one of the few people in Washington that commands the respect of both sides of the aisle, because of her skill, because of her talent. She was instrumental, one of the key factors in getting the Chips Act passed on a bipartisan basis. So she has the intellectual and temperament and character to lead. I don’t know if it’s president, but it’s going to be something significant in the national political life, and she’s come a long way since that little baby.