House Speaker John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, speaking at his first news conference after the midterm elections, in Washington on Thursday.Credit Jabin Botsford/The New York Times
Speaker John A. Boehner, emboldened by Tuesday’s election results, warned on Thursday that President Obama risked “burning himself” if he took unilateral action to reform the United States immigration system.
In Mr. Boehner’s first news conference since Republicans scored decisive victories in the midterm elections, Mr. Boehner said: “When you play with matches, you risk burning yourself. He’s going to burn himself if he continues down this path.”
Mr. Boehner was referring to Mr. Obama’s promise to take executive action on immigration if Congress cannot reach a deal on legislation to send him.
“If he acts unilaterally, on his own, outside of his authority, he will poison the well and there will be no chance of immigration reform moving through this Congress,” Mr. Boehner said.
The Republican from Ohio said that he would also continue to push for repealing the Affordable Care Act and hoped that the president would work with him on tax reform, regulatory reform, reshaping the legal system and addressing debt.
“Finding common ground is going to be hard work,” Mr. Boehner said. “It’s going to be even harder if the president isn’t willing to work with us.”
President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously to Army First Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing for conspicuous gallantry at the Battle Gettysburg in the Civil War. Lt. Cushing had been the commanding officer of a unit in combat near Cemetery Ridge on July 3, 1863, holding off Pickett's Charge by the Confederate Army. Accepting the medal is Helen Loring Ensign, 85, a family relative. The ceremony was in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on Thursday. Standing around the photo are members of Congress and at right, Robert A. McDonald, the secretary of veterans affairs.Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times
After a long campaign, First Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing of the Union army was honored for his sacrifice at Gettysburg; at the time the medal was not given posthumously.
The list of issues where Republicans and Democrats might be able find common ground is not long, but on fiscal matters there could be some deal-making to be done.
As The Times’s Jonathan Weisman reports, President Obama and the new congressional leadership are optimistic that agreements can be reached on simplifying the tax code, promoting trade and shrinking the budget deficit.
Tax reform, international trade and budget policy may offer common ground for Democrats and Republicans in President Obama’s final two years in office.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie answeresd questions from the news media on Oct. 27 about nurse Kaci Hickox's quarantine while campaigning for Tom Foley, the unsuccessful Republican candidate for Connecticut governor.Credit Jessica Hill/Associated Press
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey drew some national criticism for his blunt statements and aggressive handling of the Ebola crisis, but a majority in his home state preferred his response to that of the federal government, according to a new poll from Monmouth University Polling Institute.
While only 37 percent of New Jersey voters approved of the way the federal government handled the Ebola outbreak, Mr. Christie did much better, with 53 percent approving and 27 percent disapproving his “we’re right, and they’re wrong” approach.
The split broke down mostly along party lines, although 59 percent of New Jersey independents also supported Mr. Christie’s positions.
Despite the voices of support for Mr. Christie’s management of the scare, 7 in 10 respondents said that Ebola posed only a minor public health threat or no threat at all.
Mr. Christie attracted national attention when Kaci Hickox, who had treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, became the first public test case for a mandatory quarantine by Mr. Christie and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York. She was eventually released, but an unapologetic Mr. Christie quickly and forcefully dismissed those who questioned his handling of the case, leading to this “Saturday Night Live” skit.
Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, responded to questions at a news conference in Washington on Tuesday.Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times
Representative Steve Israel is stepping down as the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, denying a request from Representative Nancy Pelosi to return for a third term though he is hoping to remain within the Democratic House leadership.
In an interview with Newsday, Mr. Israel, Democrat of New York whose district includes much of the North Shore of Long Island, said, “I’ve been really clear with leader Pelosi that I would like to continue to have a seat at the leadership table, because it makes me more effective.”
The move is not a response to the election results Tuesday night, which Mr. Israel called “an ugly night for Democrats at all levels,” nor should it come as a surprise to many at both the D.C.C.C. or Mr. Israel’s congressional office. Mr. Israel was clear well before the election that this would be his last cycle as chairman in an interview with reporters for The New York Times earlier this year.
With Representative Steve Israel of Long Island as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, his party lost 14 House seats nationwide, including three in New York.
Representative Steve Israel of New York, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, thinks the way campaigns are financed needs to be changed for Washington to work.
From left, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada and the Senate majority leader with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican who will become majority leader, at an event in Washington in 2013.Credit Christopher Gregory/The New York Times
That didn’t take long.
Senator Harry Reid’s office this morning took a shot at Senator Mitch McConnell, the incoming majority leader, under the subject line: “Senator McConnell vows more of the same.”
The reference was to an op-ed article by Mr. McConnell and House Speaker John A. Boehner published this morning in The Wall Street Journal in which they said they would fulfill voters’ expectations by “renewing our commitment to repeal ObamaCare, which is hurting the job market along with Americans’ health care.”
Mr. Reid’s press office noted that “one day after the election Senator McConnell is already letting Senator Cruz set the agenda,” referring to Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the very conservative Republican who led last year’s government shutdown and has said Republicans should do whatever they can to overturn the law.
“Conspicuously absent from Senator McConnell’s vision for the next Congress: the word ‘compromise’,” said the email from Adam Jentleson, Mr. Reid’s spokesman.
Republicans have said they will try to overturn the law when they take power in January, but they also say they know they cannot win since President Obama would veto any repeal they could get through Congress.
It’s not going to be easy for Mr. McConnell, who not only was being hit by Democrats for quickly reneging on talk of trying to work together but by conservatives upset that in remarks Wednesday, Mr. McConnell took the weapons of a government shutdown or threat of default off the table.
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the current majority leader.Credit Gabriella Demczuk/The New York Times
Senator Harry Reid failed to keep the Senate in Democratic hands. That means that come January, he will no longer be majority leader.
But could he be deposed by his own caucus before he even has a chance to become minority leader?
Many Senate Democrats are frustrated by Mr. Reid’s autocratic style, and on Wednesday, Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota gently stoked speculation of caucus rebellion when she refused to say whether she would support Mr. Reid for re-election next week.
“The caucus is going to make a decision,” she said.
Pressed to be a little more specific, she went on: “I’m telling you what I’m going to do is, I’m going to talk about what I think needs to change. And I’m going to look for someone who’s willing to embrace that change.”
The same question was put to almost every Democratic senator in a close re-election race this year. Most of them had a clever way to dodge it, too. But most of them also lost. Ms. Heitkamp was not among them: She is just two years into her first term.
Supporters of Republican Joni Ernst, senator-elect in Iowa, who won in a race where outside groups committed at least $23.6 million on her behalf, compared with $17.5 million for the Democrats.Credit Eric Thayer for The New York Times
Republican outside groups spent more money than their Democratic counterparts in seven of the nine top Senate races, according to a final analysis of Federal Election Commission records.
In Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana and New Hampshire, general election spending by outside groups supporting the Republican candidates exceeded spending on behalf of Democrats. Republicans won in five of those races and are well positioned to win a sixth, in Louisiana, after a runoff.
In some states, the spending was as lopsided as the Republican Party’s victories. Conservative outside groups spent $17 million in Arkansas, more than double the amount fielded by liberal groups. In Iowa, the groups committed at least $23.6 million on behalf of the Republican, Joni Ernst, compared with $17.5 million for the Democrats. In Kentucky, Senator Mitch McConnell benefited from $20.5 million in spending, more than double the amount spent on behalf of Alison Lundergan Grimes.
Democratic groups narrowly outspent Republican ones in North Carolina, where Thom Tillis edged out Senator Kay Hagan, the Democratic incumbent. They also spent several million dollars more in Alaska, where the Republican candidate, Dan Sullivan, appears likely to win the Senate seat now held by Mark Begich.
Senator Mitch McConnell greeted a group from the McConnell Scholars Program on Wednesday before a news conference at the University of Louisville.Credit Todd Heisler/The New York Times
Good Thursday morning from Washington, where President Obamamet with reporters and didn’t seem like someone whose party had just suffered near-historic losses, and Republicans skipped ahead to 2016 by blaming Hillary Rodham Clinton for bringing down Democrats. But first, let’s look at what might happen in the final months of a Democratic-led Congress.
Republicans may have thrashed them on Tuesday, but Democrats will still hold power in the Senate until the end of the year. And the maneuvering is well underway for what will or won’t get done in the lame-duck session that begins next week.
These final days present Democrats with a chance to take care of a few agenda items that will be difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish under the coming Republican Congress — moving on stalled nominations perhaps. And Republicans will have the opportunity to dispose of a few headaches before they start fresh in the new year.
Top aides to Senator Harry Reid, still the majority leader for the moment, and Speaker John A. Boehner have been going over their plans for the session.
Republicans want to find a way to finance the government through next September to take those sticky spending issues off the table for a while. They also hope to extend a series of business tax breaks.
One issue involves a Pentagon policy bill. If it gets to the floor, it could inspire a flood of amendments on contentious issues like border security, presidential action on immigration and Ebola preparedness.
And considering Senator Mitch McConnell‘s promise as the prospective new majority leader to allow free-flowing amendments next year, it could be a preview of what’s to come.
It was like watching someone who has had the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders.
Maybe it was the fact that President Obama will never be held responsible for another election. Maybe it was because he could stop going to so many fund-raisers. Or perhaps he was relieved that he could move on his agenda without the fear of offending voters.
Whatever the reason, the president was relaxed, calm — cheery, even — as he faced reporters on Wednesday. He said it more than once: “I am really optimistic about America.” The election results, he said, were “disappointing.”
“It doesn’t make me mopey,” he added. “It energizes me.”
After a similar drubbing four years ago, a grim Mr. Obama seemed burdened by the sagging economy, by the election losses of many friends in the House who had just helped him pass the health care law, and by his own management failures.
His tone was then reflective, acknowledging that presidents can lose track of “the ways that we connected with folks that got us here in the first place.” Losing control of the House was a “shellacking” that had taught him lessons.
There was none of that on Wednesday. Instead, he was upbeat and expressed an eagerness to work with Republicans when he could and around them when he must.
Some critics will say he was not sufficiently contrite.
President Obama will posthumously award the Medal of Honor to First Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing of the Army for conspicuous gallantry during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.
Michelle Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will join the president in the evening for “In Person at the White House,” where musicians including Mary J. Blige, Common, John Fogerty, Willie Nelson and Romeo Santos will perform.
Hillary Rodham Clinton was not on any ballot this week, but that didn’t stop Republicans on Wednesday from pinning the Democrats’ losses on her. And why not? President Obama, after all, will not be on any ballot in 2016.
“Voters were very clear,” Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, told a news media gathering in Washington. “They want nothing to do with the policies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.”
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky — who, like Mrs. Clinton, seems to be preparing for a presidential run in 2016 — was also having a little fun at her expense.
Before all the votes had been counted, he put together a Facebook album titled #HillarysLosers featuring photographs of Mrs. Clinton with, among others, Alison Lundergan Grimes of Kentucky, Representative Bruce Braley of Iowa and Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina — all of whom were defeated on Tuesday.
“Voters sent a message to President Obama and Hillary Clinton, rejecting their policies and many of their candidates,” Mr. Paul wrote.
Not that Mrs. Clinton was among those rejected candidates. That’s on their wish list for November 2016.
Democrats will now control fewer state legislative chambers than at any time since the 1920s, National Review Online says. (Bottom line: 65 Republican, 23 Democrat, one tie, and four undecided.)
