Kuwait Times

GOP primed to dismantle Obama’s policies

‘We have a lot to do - and a lot to undo’

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Members of the 115th Congress will be sworn in, setting off an aggressive campaign by Republican­s who control the House and Senate to dismantle eight years of President Barack Obama’s Democratic policies. The first and biggest target is Obama’s health care law, which Republican­s have long sought to gut and blamed as a primary cause for a lackluster economic recovery. But decades-old programs that millions of Americans rely on every day, such as Social Security and Medicare, also will be in the crosshairs as congressio­nal Republican­s seek to shrink both the size of the federal budget and the bureaucrac­y in Washington. “We have a lot to do - and a lot to undo,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said in a letter to fellow Republican­s.

There were signs of Republican-onRepublic­an drama even before the new Congress officially opened. House Republican­s on Monday night voted to defy their leaders and gut the chamber’s independen­t ethics panel created in 2008 to probe charges of lawmaker misconduct after several corruption scandals sent members to prison.

Lawmakers would have the final say on their colleagues under the change approved 199-74 over arguments from House Speaker Paul Ryan, McCarthy, and other GOP leaders. Some members said they have felt unfairly targeted by the independen­t panel, and Kellyanne Conway, a top adviser to Presidente­lect Donald Trump, said yesterday on ABC that there had been “overzealou­sness” under the old system. Others complained that the move would clear a path to corruption.

Conservati­ve agenda

Democrats will try to block the far-reaching conservati­ve agenda by swaying public opinion and using the power they have in the Senate to filibuster legislatio­n. But that strategy has its political limitation­s. Twenty-three Senate Democrats are up for re-election in 2018, including 10 from states won by President-elect Donald Trump, and they could break ranks and side with the GOP.

“What we will always do is hold the president-elect and his Republican colleagues in Congress accountabl­e,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in prepared remarks yesterday. “We will be a caucus that works to make sure the president-elect keeps his commitment to truly make America great, in its finest sense and tradition.”

Obama plans a rare trip to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet with congressio­nal Democrats and discuss strategy for saving the health care law. Vice President-elect Mike Pence will meet with Republican­s. The first week of the new Congress will be a preview of the hectic pace planned by Republican­s.

The GOP’s proposal to change the ethics process is part of a rules package to be voted on and that also would give GOP leaders the tools to punish lawmakers if there is a repeat of the Democratic sit-in last summer over gun control. Votes also are expected on resolution­s to denounce the United Nations for condemning the constructi­on of Israeli settlement­s in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Republican­s blasted the Obama administra­tion for refusing to veto the decision. Ryan, R-Wis., pledged “to reverse the damage done by this administra­tion, and rebuild our alliance with Israel.”

James Clapper, the director of national intelligen­ce, is scheduled to testify Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee on an intelligen­ce community assessment that Russia interfered in the U.S. election by hacking into Democratic email accounts. Allegation­s of Russian meddling in the U.S. political process will be examined by individual congressio­nal committees, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has rejected a bipartisan call for a special, high-profile select panel to investigat­e.

Obama last week slapped Russia with sweeping penalties over the hacking allegation­s, yet Trump has not publicly accepted the conclusion Moscow was behind the election year intrusions. Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” that “there doesn’t seem to be conclusive evidence” that the Russians were responsibl­e.

Scuttle rules

The House is slated to vote Friday to certify Trump’s victory in the presidenti­al election over Democrat Hillary Clinton. She is the fifth presidenti­al candidate to win the popular vote and lose the Electoral College. She received nearly 2.9 million more votes than Trump, according to an Associated Press analysis, giving her the largest popular vote margin of any losing presidenti­al candidate and bringing renewed calls to abolish the Electoral College.

Other must-do items on the GOP’s agenda are an overhaul of the US tax code. Conservati­ves also want to scuttle rules on the environmen­t and undo financial regulation­s created in the aftermath of the 2008 economic meltdown, arguing they are too onerous for businesses to thrive.

The Senate plans to begin repealing Obama’s health care law, with considerat­ion of a procedural measure that will shield the initiative from Democratic filibuster­s.

 ?? — AP ?? WASHINGTON: In this Nov 10, 2016 file photo, President-elect Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis, pose for photograph­ers after a meeting in the Speaker’s office on Capitol Hill.
— AP WASHINGTON: In this Nov 10, 2016 file photo, President-elect Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis, pose for photograph­ers after a meeting in the Speaker’s office on Capitol Hill.

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