new republican-led u.s. congress lays groundworkfor trump era the republican-led u.s. congress begins anew session on tuesday where it will start laying plans for enacting president-electdonald trump's agenda of tax cuts, repeal of obamacare and the rollback of financialand environmental regulations. with trump set to be sworn in as presidenton jan. 20, republican lawmakers hope to get a quick start on priorities that were blockedduring democratic president barack obama's eight years in the white house. since his election on nov. 8, the republicanpresident-elect has made clear he wants to move swiftly to enact proposals he outlinedduring the campaign such as simplifying the
tax code, slashing corporate tax rates andrepealing and replacing obama’s signature health insurance program known as obamacare. republicans have long sought to dismantleobamacare, insisting it was unworkable and hampered job growth. but they face a dilemma over how to providehealth insurance for the 13.8 million people enrolled in obamacare who could lose theircoverage. the law aims to provide health insurance toeconomically disadvantaged people and expand coverage for others. last month senate majority leader mitch mcconnell,a republican, said that before the election,
he assumed democrats would take back controlof the senate and hold on to the white house, ending any talk of repealing obamacare. "i didn't think ... trump had a chance ofwinning," mcconnell said in a dec. 19 interview with kentucky educational television. the opposite occurred and now republicansfind they have to deliver on their campaign promise, even though they have not agreedon a replacement healthcare program. trump kept up his attack on the law on tuesday,tweeting: "people must remember that obamacare just doesn't work, and it is not affordable,"and adding, "it is lousy healthcare." the first meeting of the 115th congress willbe full of ceremony, as the 435 members of
the house of representatives and a third ofthe 100-member senate are sworn in. amid the celebration will be a move by houserepublicans to clear the decks for obamacare repeal. that will come in the form of a vote on rulesgoverning house procedures in the two-year term of the chamber. tucked into the rules package is a move toprevent democrats from slowing or stopping obamacare repeal legislation because of thepotential cost to the u.s. treasury of doing so. leading democrats warned on monday of a fiercebattle over obamacare.
"we're going to fight as hard as ever to protectthe aca (affordable care act)," said representative steny hoyer, the house's second-ranking democrat. speaking to reporters, hoyer and house democraticleader nancy pelosi said they would launch an effort to mobilize grassroots support forobamacare by explaining how repeal would create a ripple effect hurting a majority of americans. obama is scheduled to meet on wednesday withcongressional democrats to discuss strategies for fending off the republican attacks onobamacare. cabinet, supreme court nominations the senate will kick off hearings on trump'schoices to head his cabinet departments and
other top jobs in the new administration. it is also expected to receive a supreme courtnomination from trump early in his term to replace conservative justice antonin scalia,who died last february. republicans refused to consider obama's nominationof merrick garland last year. prominent republican senator john mccain haswarned that rex tillerson, trump's choice for secretary of state, will have to explainhis relations with russian president vladimir putin, whom mccain has called a "thug anda murderer." tillerson, who spent much of his career atexxon mobil corp (xom.n), has been involved in business dealings in russia and opposedu.s. sanctions against moscow for its incursion
into crimea. while mcconnell repeatedly called for removingobamacare "root and branch," he said in the kentucky television interview that his toppriorities for the new congress were dealing with the "massive overregulation" he saidhad been a brake on the u.s. economy and accomplishing tax code changes to stop companies from movingjobs offshore. republican lawmakers also want to curtailor block regulations aimed at controlling industrial emissions that contribute to climatechange, and roll back banking industry reforms enacted after the near-collapse of wall streetin 2008. republicans might use upcoming spending billsfunding government agencies to try to kill
some of those regulations. trump is also expected to try to use his executivepowers toward that end. republicans will hold a slightly smaller majorityin both the senate and house than they enjoyed the past two years. that means democrats will still have bargainingpower, especially on issues that divide republicans, such as spending priorities.
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