November 3, 2010
The Road Ahead Turns Right
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

Energized by their big victories in the midterm elections, Congressional Republican leaders wasted no time on Wednesday in putting President Obama and Democrats on notice: the days of single-party control are numbered and legislating in Washington is about to get a whole lot more complicated.

Oh, and by the way, lest anyone forget: Republicans still have major problems with the two major pieces of legislation that Democrats pushed through this year — the overhauls of health care and financial regulation — and they intend to do something about it as soon as they can.

In addition, the Republicans want to continue all of the Bush-era tax cuts — a step Mr. Obama opposes. Cutting government spending is high on the list, a goal the president shares, although Republican leaders have yet to offer specifics.

They also seemed likely to push forward with their own legislation, challenging Democrats to deal with the government-sponsored mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and pressing on various economic and trade issues.

At a news conference at the Capitol, the likely speaker, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, and the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, both said they wanted the health care law repealed and replaced.

“I believe that the health care bill that was enacted by the current Congress will kill jobs in America, ruin the best health care system in the world and bankrupt our country,” Mr. Boehner said. “That means that we have to do everything we can to try to repeal this bill, and replace it with common-sense reforms that will bring down the cost of health insurance.” Earlier in the day, Mr. Boehner called the health care law a “monstrosity.”

The prospects of a repeal are extremely slim, given that Democrats hold a majority in the Senate and Mr. Obama enjoys veto power. But Republicans are likely to insist on changing whatever provisions they can.

On the financial regulation front, Republicans did not threaten to repeal the law, but they said they would use the leverage of their new House majority to conduct careful oversight, which could include hearings and the use of subpoena power.

“When it comes to the financial services bill and the 358 regulatory filings required under that bill,” Mr. Boehner said, “it’s going to require a significant amount of oversight — so that not only will the Congress understand, but the American people will understand, just what this bill will do to our financial services industry.” The Republicans will also most likely seek changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which they believe was given too much power.

And in the Senate, Republicans emboldened by their election victories could take a more aggressive stance in blocking Mr. Obama’s nominees.

While leaders in both parties have hinted at the possibility of reaching agreements on relatively modest legislation dealing with energy or education, fiscal issues like taxes or government spending cut straight to some of the core philosophical disagreements between the two sides.

While divided government inevitably creates opportunities for compromise, the recent acrimony in Congress suggests that efforts to work together could just as easily collapse in a fusillade of angry floor speeches, filibusters by the Senate Republicans and veto threats by the White House.

Gov. Haley Barbour, Republican of Mississippi, who joined Mr. Boehner and Mr. McConnell at the news conference, suggested that his party might feel a bit unwilling to give ground considering the election results. “The policies of the Obama administration, the Pelosi-Reid Congress, were repudiated by the voters,” he said.