GOP preps for power
By Alexander Bolton – 11/06/14 06:00 AM EST
For Republicans, now comes the hard part: governing.
Fresh off its historic gains on Election Day, the GOP will soon have control of both the Senate and the House for the first time since 2007. Republicans are promising to fix Congress, knowing that they — for better or worse — will run a historically unpopular institution ahead of the 2016 elections.
Republican leaders know the mandate they received Tuesday will be short-lived if they cannot enact laws to boost what many voters see as a sluggish economy.
In a rare phone call with President Obama Wednesday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) identified two major areas of possible compromise: trade agreements and tax reform.
“There are a lot of people who believe that, just because you have divided government, it doesn’t mean you don’t accomplish anything,” McConnell said at a press conference in Louisville, Ky.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said “serious immigration reform” is on the table as well but cautioned it must include strong provisions to secure the border.
Yet the first order of business for McConnell and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will be to put the basic work of Congress back on track. That means passing a budget each year and moving the appropriations bills on schedule instead of letting them pile up in annual year-end omnibus packages.
The GOP leaders say they will tackle more than three dozen House-passed jobs bills, such as an authorization of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. That measure has passed the House and has the votes to clear the Senate next year. The Obama administration has repeatedly delayed a final decision on Keystone.
McConnell on Wednesday said the upper chamber under Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was the primary cause of gridlock.
“The Senate was the problem, not the House,” he said. “The House passed over 300 pieces of legislation, many of them on a bipartisan basis, and nothing was done with them in the Senate.
“The American people have changed the Senate, so I think we have an obligation to change the behavior of the Senate and begin to function again,” he added.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/223153-gop-preps-for-power