WASHINGTON — President Obama will be playing defense from the get-go when Congress convenes Wednesday, with the new GOP House majority planning to vote to repeal the health-care laws even before his State of the Union Address later this month.
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which will be key to the repeal effort, yesterday said there are likely enough votes to roll back the Democrats’ historic health-care overhaul — maybe close to the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.
“There will be a significant number of Democrats, I think, that will join us,” Upton said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Short of repeal — an uphill battle against a Senate Democratic majority and Obama’s veto pen — the House will “go after this bill piece by piece,” Upton said.
Obama also faces an onslaught of investigations by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which will be chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). He vowed to probe wasteful spending by the administration.
Obama nevertheless remains optimistic he’ll make progress with Republicans on such issues as cutting pork spending and reducing the deficit, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine said yesterday.