WASHINGTON — A top priority for Republicans as they take full control of Congress this week will be to repair their reputation as a divided party hobbled by infighting and permanent confrontation with President Barack Obama.
The overarching ambition is to try to reshape policy in ways that prove to average Americans that Republicans can govern, especially with the 2016 presidential campaign in its early stages.
“I think a majority (of Republicans) recognize that we have to govern responsibly,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who will become chairman of the Armed Services Committee. “We have to show that we can be a productive party, and that, I think, will have a direct effect on whether we’re able to elect a Republican as president in 2016.”
Incoming committee chairmen such as McCain are preparing fresh oversight of federal agencies, while rank-and-file members will be encouraged to use a new budget plan and government spending bills to challenge Obama by trying to roll back his environmental regulations, health care reforms and his outreach to Cuba and Iran.
With public disgust at Washington at an all-time high, Republicans are eager to demonstrate that they can be productive and have some level of bipartisan cooperation with the president. No one, however, has bipartisanship as the top agenda item.
“On the things where we agree, the goal will be to make a law, not just put something on his desk,” incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in an interview. He added later, “I want to make it clear: Desire for a signature is not going to dictate everything that we do.”
Securing final passage of bills will require McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to compromise with Democrats while holding together their own ranks, which have clashed over issues such as spending and immigration. Many GOP leaders hope that their differences can be set aside in favor of legislative wins.
The House and Senate formally reconvene Tuesday. New members will be sworn in, and top leaders and committee chairmen will be formally installed on a day steeped in tradition and ceremony.
Boehner and McConnell will be backed by larger Republican majorities: 246 Republicans in the House, the party’s largest majority since just after World War II; and 54 GOP senators, an impressive gain but short of the 60 votes required to overcome most procedural hurdles Democrats will have at their disposal.
McConnell plans to begin his tenure as Senate majority leader with a “full-throated” debate on energy policy, from a new oil pipeline to oil exploration. He has also promised consideration of liberal alternatives. McConnell wants to use the controversial proposal to authorize construction of the Keystone XL pipeline as the genesis for a free-wheeling Senate debate about America’s energy future.
“We can treat this like a serious and significant energy debate,” McConnell said.
