President Obama pledged to work with Republican leaders Wednesday, the day after a historic wave election that brought Republican control of the Senate and the largest GOP House majority since 1930.
"Obviously, Republicans had a good night, and deserve credit for running good campaigns," Obama said. The message of the election, he added, was that Americans want their leaders to "work as hard as they do."
Obama then put two new items on the agenda for the lame-duck Congress: A $6.2 billion emergency spending bill that would pay for efforts to fight Ebola and, in a turnabout from his previous stance, explicit congressional authorization for his war against the Islamic State.
For more than an hour, Obama spoke to reporters Wednesday from the East Room, a more formal venue than the briefing room. It's the same place where President George W. Bush talked about his "thumping" in the 2006 midterm elections, and where President Obama discussed his "shellacking" in 2010.
Obama steered clear of using similarly vivid language to describe Tuesday's Democratic defeat, and also declined to analyze its causes.
"When it comes to the political analysis, that's your job," he told reporters. "But what is also true is I am the president of the United States, and I think, understandably, people are going to ask for greater accountability and more responsibility from me than from anyone else in this town. Appropriately so, and I welcome that."
Republicans said Obama's remarks showed he "didn't get the message of yesterday's election." Party Chairman Reince Priebus wondered, "Is he detached or in denial?"
Obama's comments came minutes after Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. presumed to be the Senate Majority Leader in the next Congress, outlined his agenda to reporters in Louisville: trade deals, tax reform and changes to unpopular provisions of the Affordable Care Act. But McConnell also repeatedly noted that Obama's veto pen was a powerful tool.
Obama, never using the word "veto," said at the press conference: "Congress will pass some bills I cannot sign. I'm pretty sure I will take some actions that some in Congress will not like. That's natural. That's our how democracy works."
Obama and McConnell spoke by phone Wednesday. McConnell called it a "good discussion." Obama said he congratulated McConnell and appreciated his words about working together.
Obama even offered his trademark alcoholic olive branch. "I would enjoy having some Kentucky bourbon with Mitch McConnell," he said.
At 53, and with his hair noticeably grayer than 2010, Obama seemed more energetic than mournful. He purported to enjoy the give-and-take with reporters, saying, "I missed you guys. We haven't done this in a while."
Obama also sought to strikes notes of conciliation with the Republicans, but made clear he would pursue his ideas even if GOP members don't like them.
Obama said he would let the bureaucratic process play out for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, and that he would listen to Republican arguments about the medical device tax. But he said repealing significant portions of the Affordable Care Act, including the mandate that individuals buy insurance, "is a line I can't cross."
He urged Congress to send him an immigration bill he can sign, but promised to take executive action by the end of the year if they don't.
While Republicans won control of the House after the 2010 midterm elections, Obama has never had to deal with a GOP-run Senate.
Obama called at least 25 other newly elected and, in some cases, defeated officials Tuesday, 13 of which were Republicans.
The president has invited top congressional leaders to the White House on Friday. The agenda includes plans for the lame-duck congressional session that opens in mid-November. That agenda includes:
• A $6.2 billion emergency spending request to battle Ebola in West Africa, which Obama sent to Capitol Hill Wednesday.
• A specific congressional authorization for use of military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria — something Obama previously said was unnecessary, but which he said would send a united message to the world. "We now have a different type of enemy. The strategy is different," he said.
• A short-term spending bill to fund the government expires next month and needs to be renewed to avoid a government shutdown.
"It's time to take care of business," Obama said. "There are things we have to do that can't wait another two years or four years."
Obama is expected to nominate a new attorney general shortly, and will embark on a foreign trip next week that will take him to global economic conferences in China, Burma and Australia.
The new Congress will be sworn in early next year.
In his first post election briefing, President Barack Obama says Sen. Mitch McConnell has always been "straightforward" with him and has never made a promise he couldn't deliver on.
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