WASHINGTON - The Republican agenda for the new Congress thatconvenes Wednesday may have a greater impact on the 2012 electionsthan on the lives of Americans in the next two years.
Republicans promise to cut spending, roll back President BarackObama's health care overhaul and prevent unelected bureaucrats fromexpanding the government's role in society through regulations thattell people what they must or can't do. Getting this agenda throughthe House may be easier than in the Senate, given the GOP's 241-194majority in the House. Getting the Senate to act will be achallenge. Democrats still hold an edge there, though smaller thanthe one Obama had during his first two years in the White House.
Even if the next two years end in gridlock, Republicans will havebuilt a record for the next election that they hope will demonstrateto voters that they can get it right.
House Republicans also pledge to hold tough investigations andhearings on the president's programs and policies, ending the freepass that Democratic committee chairmen gave the Obamaadministration the past two years.
Republicans insist they'll bring key administration officialsbefore congressional microphones and that the public can watch thewebcasts. The friendly tone of inquiry from Democratic chairmen willbe replaced by Republicans demanding answers to these questions:What's the purpose of this program? Is this the best use of thetaxpayers' money?
The chief Republican investigator, Rep. Darrell Issa ofCalifornia, is raring to get started, and he's not alone. Issa, theincoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government ReformCommittee, has been especially critical of what he calls waste inObama's economic stimulus spending.
"The sooner the administration figures out that the enemy is thebureaucracy and the wasteful spending, not the other party, thebetter off we'll be," he told "Fox News Sunday."
Rep. Harold Rogers of Kentucky, incoming leader of the HouseAppropriations Committee, says he wants top officials from all majorgovernment agencies to appear and justify their spending.
The next chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee,Republican Fred Upton of Michigan, says he'll work to stop over-zealous government regulators. A big target for him is theEnvironmental Protection Agency, which is writing rules to limitgreenhouse gases blamed for global warming after Obama's effort toget Congress to do it stalled in the Senate last year.
"We are not going to let this administration regulate whatthey've been unable to legislate," he told Fox.
Upton, like Issa, will have a large investigative staff.
"Republicans need to make sure they bring forward solutions, eventhough it may be difficult to get them accomplished," Rep.-electKristi Noem, R-S.D., said in an interview. She said the lesson fromthe November election is, "The American people will replace peopleif they're no longer in touch or listening."
Noem benefited from that view, defeating Democratic Rep.Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. Noem has risen to the forefront of thefreshman class; she was chosen to serve in the GOP leadership.
In the Senate, there's a chance the Democrats will replaceRepublicans as the party of "no," assuming the House GOP passes muchof its agenda. Democrats will control the Senate 51-47 with twoindependents, and only need 41 votes to block initiatives thatarrive from the House.
Among the reasons that the Republican agenda will likely have abigger impact on the next election than on the day-to-day lives ofmost Americans are:
n Much of the government spending has been politicallyuntouchable. About 60 percent goes for entitlement programs,including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. The nation also ispaying for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and major reconstructionprojects in those countries. Both parties have considered itpolitically foolish to mess with Medicare and Social Security. Also,Republicans don't have a clean record as budget cutters.
"Spending restraint on the Republican side is a theory yet to beproven," said Robert Bixby, executive director of the budget-watching Concord Coalition. He noted that Democratic President BillClinton's budget surplus turned into deficit under Republican GeorgeW. Bush.
* Obama may be more willing to compromise with Republicans thanin his first two years, but he will fight repealing the health carelaw. Senate Democrats will almost certainly stop major revisions. Iffor some reason they don't, Obama will use his veto to stop them.
n Republican attempts to overturn regulations on issues such asglobal warming also could falter in the Senate. When the EPAannounced just before Christmas that it planned to set greenhousegas emissions standards for power plants and oil refineries, Uptonsaid, "We will not allow the administration to regulate what theyhave been unable to legislate." Senate Democrats may have adifferent view.
Many eyes in the new session will focus on Issa, who will havesubpoena power and can investigate any government program.
Issa has played good cop and bad cop. He criticized Obama's mostimportant programs, including the economic stimulus. But less than amonth after the Republicans won big in November, he had a privatepeace meeting with Vice President Joe Biden. Neither is shy aboutentering a political brawl, but initially they have pledged to worktogether against waste and for openness in tracking governmentspending.
Issa has not discouraged articles suggesting he will send theadministration subpoenas by the trainload. But he also wants to givesubpoena power to nonpolitical government watchdogs - inspectorsgeneral - and let them use that authority to uncover fraud, wasteand abuse. With a degree of political cover, Issa could then usethose findings to conduct his own investigations.
If the peace pact between Biden and Issa holds, there are otherissues where the Obama administration and congressional Republicanscan compromise - as they did on extending Bush-era tax cuts for all,coupled with an extension of unemployment benefits sought by thepresident.
The incoming House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Rep. DaveCamp of Michigan, favors overhauling tax laws. So does Obama.
"The tax code is longer than the Bible, but without the happyending," Camp has said. "What we need is a comprehensive reform ofthe tax code that expands the tax base and lowers rates by beingfairer, simpler and conducive to growth."
That's not too far, in theory, from Obama's desire to "simplifyconfusing provisions in the tax code, encouraging saving andcreating a tax system that works for all Americans." The challengewill be in reaching agreement on the details.
There could be times when Obama will be closer to Republicansthan to liberal Democrats, who were furious that Obama agreed tocontinue tax cuts for the wealthy - and to levy inheritance taxesonly on the very richest Americans.
Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, who is being replaced as the House'smajority leader, was asked by a reporter near the end of the lastCongress how much trust exits between Obama and liberals.
"On a scale of one to 10 I'm not going to give you how much," hesaid. "As you know, I'm not willing to kind of create or affirm abreach between the White House and the Congress. I think there'salways tension and there should be."
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