Sunday shows: 112th battles begin

By Mike Lillis - 01/01/11 09:08 AM ET

With Republicans poised to take over the House on Wednesday, the Sunday political shows will focus this week on the key figures — and the most prominent partisan battles — of the 112th Congress.

Incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the Republicans made enormous gains in the midterm elections, picking up 63 seats and reclaiming the House majority after just four years under Democratic control.

But GOP leaders have also been cautious not to interpret the voters' message as a Republican mandate. Rather, they're vowing to use their new power to cut deficit spending by slashing federal programs — an idea anathema to many Democrats wary that such cuts would only exacerbate the nation's lingering jobs crisis.

The newly empowered House Republicans are also threatening to revisit some of the Democrats' most significant and contentious legislative successes — particularly the new healthcare reform law. That bill passed in March without the support of a single Republican in either chamber. GOP leaders, who consider the reform bill a government takeover of the healthcare system, want to repeal it in full and replace it with more market-based reforms.

The ideological differences foreshadow a showdown next year between the GOP-controlled House and the White House and Senate, which remain under control of the Democrats. It's a clash that's caused many of Washington's prognosticators to predict a kind of legislative stalemate over the next two years, with each party catering to its base in the run-up to the 2012 presidential elections, but with few significant legislative victories for either side.

Against that backdrop, House leaders from both parties will appear on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday to lay out their strategies and goals in the 112th Congress. Representing the Democrats will be Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) and Anthony Weiner (N.Y.), while Reps. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) — as well as Rep.-elect Mike Kelly (Penn.) — will be standing up for the Republicans.

Among the incoming GOP chairmen vowing to take on the Obama administration next year, few will be more watched than Issa, who will head the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The California Republican says he wants to stage multiple hearings each week in order to investigate a vast array of White House initiatives — everything from stimulus spending to a newly empowered Food and Drug Administration.

Issa will also appear on CNN's "State of the Union" as the lone Republican opposite Democratic Reps. Steve Israel (N.Y.), Elijah Cummings (Md.) and Jason Altmire (Pa.), as well as Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine. All eyes will be on any exchanges between Issa and Cummings, who, as ranking member of the House Oversight panel, will be the Democrats' first line of defense against the scores of investigations Issa is promising.

For the hat-trick, Issa will also appear on "Fox News Sunday," joining GOP Rep. Fred Upton (Mich.), who's poised to take over the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. Fox will also host two incoming House Republicans — Mike Lee (Utah) and Allen West (Fla.) — two Tea Party-backed freshmen whose hard line against deficit spending could prove as much a thorn to GOP leaders as to Democrats hoping to fund the government next year.

Turning to the Senate, NBC's "Meet the Press" will host Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who was among the most vocal critics of the Democrats' successful lame-duck efforts to enact a nuclear treaty with Russia and repeal the Pentagon's long-standing ban on gays serving openly in the military. Sen.-elect Pat Toomey, the Republican who defeated former Rep. Joe Sestak (D) in Pennsylvania, will also appear.

Moving away from Congress, ABC's "This Week" will feature Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, as well as actor George Clooney, who will be promoting efforts to end genocide in advance of a referendum next week to split Sudan in two.

Leave to ABC to veer off into World Politics with the lame Amanpour. This show is doomed.BY JAKOTA on 01/01/2011 at 09:42

Begin the investigations ASAP Rep. Issa and make sure you reveal the real Obama to all the idiots out there who think Obama is normal.

EXPOSE THE MARXIST FREAK HE REALLY IS!BY SICKOFOBAMA on 01/01/2011 at 10:37

President Obama's 47% Gallup approval today is higher than either Reagan or Clinton at the same stage of their first terms, both of whom were re-elected.http://www.gallup.com/home.aspx. 

And a December 20 poll puts Obama's approval at 48%.http://thepage.time.com/2010/12/20/poll-48-approve-of-obamas-performance/. 

And unlike when Clinton and Bush when they lost the House in a landslide, a WaPo poll found that voters still prefer the President over the opposition party and also found that 55% believe Obama's policies can "move America in the right direction".http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/20/cnn-poll-three-quarters-approve-of-new-tax-cut-law/. 

Even Republican pollster Rasmussen has Obama at 48% approval.http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/12/027984.phpBY TOM on 01/01/2011 at 11:58

Ever notice that no matter what picture you see of any of the republicans in congress, they always have a mean and nasty look about them? Why are they so angry and bitter all the time? Because they lost the presidency to a black democrat? Just like McCain they all look like the universal cranky old man on the block that yells at kids to get off his lawn!BY JOJO3 on 01/01/2011 at 12:11

JOJO3…I agree, McCain looks and sounds like a bitter old man, that is carrying a political crudge. I don't think he has supported our President on anything that I know of. He needs to retire and enjoy Ariziona, it's such a beautiful State.BY SOCVT on 01/01/2011 at 12:46

Jojo

Kind of like Micheeleeeellle eeee ma belllleeeeee
Yeah- she's always smiling - hahahaBY NASTY on 01/01/2011 at 13:53

Jojo:

You want to look at an angry face of the Marxist punk you voted for?

Go to Breitbart and you will see the look of sheer evil.BY SICKOFOBAMA on 01/01/2011 at 14:09

Speaking of talk shows, CNN gives you about 80% of the truth with some liberal spin. FOX news give you about 50% of the truths with 50% spin. C-SPAN is the only news source I can rely on. I think FOX is owned by republicans and ran by Mormons.BY TROUBLETHEWATER on 01/01/2011 at 15:03

Dismantling Obamakare is only the beginning. Normal people want TSA, EPA, NPR, Title IX enforcement, and membership in the UN, defunded. Then, comes the job of electing a 100% conservative House in 2 years and the Senate in four. The idea is totally eliminate the liberal influence in this country. The 2010 elections were a good start.
2012. No liberals. No exceptions.BY JOSEPH L COOKE on 01/01/2011 at 16:04

Looks like "Fox News Sunday" has got the best line-up. Word is that Allen West and Mike Lee are awesome! Someone needs to be "a thorn" to the Democrats and Republicans. Let the battles begin!BY BORNFREE on 01/01/2011 at 16:11

Someone is living in a republican heaven la la land. Even if you had complete control of the whole political world, you would still have us demoncrats to keep your greedy thoughts humble.BY SOCVT on 01/01/2011 at 17:26

Please speak in clear sentences.

Thank you.

Your Humble Friends on the Right (side:)BY TO SOCVT on 01/01/2011 at 18:29

Angry old people? Whatever happened to respect for your elders or parents? 

John McCain has more life experience and service to the country than you'll ever have. Who raised such a selfish, smug, punk.? 

Let me guess you like Lady GaGa's old fool Harry Reid for a role model.BY GEORGE on 01/01/2011 at 18:59

A new order: House power players to watch in the 112th Congress

This Year is going to be interesting you have many comments that call for Repubs to give us jobs that is what they promised. Others want Issa to find corruption among Dems  and if he doesn't maybe he and others will shut up.  I just want congress to GROW UP and do what we the People want out of them  for our Country.  Bring back the jobs they sent overseas,  and bring down the debt,  and decide how to grow the GDP, and make America the great land it once was.  We have our future generations who need their education and we rank so low that we can not see the top of the pile.  There is more that I can say but I will in the days ahead....

By Alexander Bolton - 01/01/11 03:00 PM ET

Lawmakers in the House will jockey over the next several months to establish a new pecking order.
Some of the power players will remain the same but adopt new roles, such as outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Others, such as Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), incoming chairman of the House Budget Committee, will wield a committee gavel for the first time.

Here are several of the pivotal players to watch in the 112th Congress:


Incoming Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)

Boehner will set the agenda for the 112th Congress because the procedural rules of the House give him significantly more power to pass legislation than his Senate counterpart, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Entering the lame-duck session, the House had sent 420 bills across the Capitol that stalled in the Senate.

With a large majority, Boehner will send a steady stream of bills to Senate Democrats, putting them on the defensive to act.

Congressional aides expect President Obama will need to deal with Boehner directly to strike legislative compromises, something the president rarely did in the 111th Congress.

Boehner will face a challenge from within his own caucus as he tries to balance the demands of 87 new House GOP freshmen. Many of them are Tea Party-backed conservatives who will demand immediate action on cutting federal spending and repealing healthcare reform. A crucial test comes early next year when Congress will vote to raise the national debt ceiling. Boehner has pledged he will not let some of the more radical forces in Congress allow the government to shut down.

“This is going to be probably the first really big adult moment” for the new GOP majority, Boehner told The New Yorker magazine. “You can underline ‘adult’.”

Incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.)

Cantor is considered an ambitious rising star. Some of his proposals have swiftly gained political currency, such as the YouCut program that allows citizens to vote on specific spending cuts.

Congressional insiders will be watching Cantor closely to see how well he works with Boehner.

“There’s a tacit rivalry but they’ve learned to work within their individual pursuits,” said a senior Republican congressional aide. “In the last Congress, they both did an admirable job of allowing the interests of the conference to take precedence.”

Incoming Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)

As budget chairman, Ryan will be at the forefront of the GOP effort to cut discretionary spending and reform the entitlement programs that make up the bulk of federal outlays in the next decade. Ryan is not afraid to make politically controversial proposals in pursuit of deficit reduction but that could put his party at risk. Democrats plan to use Ryan’s proposals to curb Medicare and Social Security spending as major campaign issues in 2012.

Incoming Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)

Issa will emerge as President Obama’s chief antagonist over the next two years. He has already set up special subcommittees to investigate the 2009 economic stimulus, government spending and the last year’s federal bailout programs, including the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program). Issa has talked about his committee and its subcommittees holding as many as seven hearings a week. He has also pledged to barrage the Obama administration with subpoenas if they hold back information. Former oversight committee chairman Dan Burton (R-Ind.) issued more than 1,000 subpoenas to the Clinton administration. Issa could set a pace to match that record.

Incoming Financial Services Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.)

Bachus will have oversight of the implementation of the financial regulatory reform bill that Congress passed in the 111th Congress. Senior Republican strategists acknowledge it will be virtually impossible to repeal healthcare reform or Wall Street reform but they expect a public backlash against some of the new regulations the Obama administration will set to implement the new laws. Bachus has jurisdiction over banking and securities trading as well as the Federal Reserve and the government-sponsored mortgage guarantors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Incoming Reps. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.)

Incoming House Republican freshmen elected Noem and Scott to serve as liaisons with the House Republican leadership. They will give the freshman class a voice in GOP leadership meetings and will press their leaders to take immediate steps to cut government spending significantly. Boehner and other House leaders will also rely on Noem and Scott to manage the expectations of the freshman class. They may have to explain to several newly elected members that rejecting an increase in the federal debt limit or forcing a government shutdown is not a politically viable strategy for curbing the growth of the federal government.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.)

Pelosi is expected to emerge as the leader of the liberal effort to keep President Obama from going too far in pursuit of compromise with Republicans. She was loudly critical of the president’s deal with GOP leaders to extend almost all of the Bush-era tax cuts for two years and set the estate tax at a low 35 percent and apply it only to individual inheritances over $5 million.

Pelosi will play the important role of fundraiser-in-chief for House Democrats, who will have to compete with Obama and Senate Democrats for donors in 2012. Since Democrats have little chance of recapturing the House this election cycle, they will rely on Pelosi to raise money from the liberal base outside Washington.

“Senate Democrats will get the dominant share of Democratic money in town,” said a Democratic lobbyist. “Pelosi is uniquely capable of raising outside-of-Washington money.”

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.)

Israel will set the political strategy Democrats will pursue to recapture control of the House. Former DCCC chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) helped Democrats capture the House by recruiting culturally conservative Democrats in rural areas. Israel is expected to focus on swing voters in the suburbs, a plan that will influence the policy positions taken by House Democratic leaders.

Some Democratic strategists worry that Democrats have alienated middle-income and upper-middle-income suburban voters by demanding higher taxes for families earning over $250,000 a year.

“An average couple on Long Island could each be earning $130,000 a year. We as the Democratic Party want to be telling them that we should raise their taxes?” said a Democratic aide.

Reps. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.)

Crowley and Wasserman Schultz have been players at the periphery of the House Democratic leadership in recent years. The 112th Congress gives them the opportunity to fill the void in young centrist leadership in the Democratic caucus. The loss of 63 Democratic seats in the 2010 midterm election purged many of the centrist and conservative Democratic members from the House. Democratic strategists say that Crowley, Wasserman or other centrist-leaning lawmakers will be need to play bigger roles in order to keep the caucus from swinging too far to the left.

Incoming Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has traditionally served as the Democratic leadership’s liaison to House Republicans. But Hoyer has had a rough couple of months. Pelosi denied him the top spot in the leadership by running for House minority leader and Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) challenged him for the No. 2 position. Hoyer will need allies in his efforts to reach out to the business community and House Republicans. Crowley and Wasserman Schultz could position themselves as pragmatic leaders in the mold of Hoyer.

“It will be interesting to see who emerges on the center-right of the Democratic caucus,” said a Democratic strategist.

Headline should read 

New World OrderBY DUH on 01/01/2011 at 15:17

Hand that gavel over Piglosi if your claws can let it go.

Then sit down and shut up for the next 2 years while the Americans are in charge!BY SICKOFOBAMA on 01/01/2011 at 15:21

Boener and company got their tax cuts for the rich so there was certainty in the 'job creaters' minds. Now, where are the jobs? 
Let me guess, now they will have to get rid of 'job killing regulatons', like the minimum wage.

How about getting rid of our "JOB KILLING FREE TRADE POLICIES", that's what's realy happened to our jobs, the were sent to third world countries who pay 40cents an hour for their child labor, WAKE UP AMERICA!BY WHERE ARE THE JOBS on 01/01/2011 at 15:32

When I saw the "Power Players" headline, I immediately thought about Rep. Darrell Issa. In considering his coming leadership of the Oversight Committee, a few thoughts come to mind. First is that the list of hearings proposed, ie. Stimulus, TARP, etc., is an opportunity for further education of the public regarding these topics. As a proud supporter of the President, I'm confident that an honest investigation will show the benefit of the Stimulus, the early payback of the TARP funds, an so on. If that is what happens, and Issa uncovers areas that could be improved, the country will be better off for it. Unfortunately, many of his party supporters, as witnessed right here on The Hill, will not be satisfied unless Issa proves the existence of a Communist plot to destroy America, lead by a Kenyan imposter in the White House. Time will tell whether Issa will take the high road or whether he will be another Joe McCarthy, bent on creating controversy for personal noteriety. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I will wish him well and exhort him to make his committee an honest and "unpolarized" window into the ongoing workings of our government.BY SMILINJACK on 01/01/2011 at 15:38

"Boehner has pledged he will not let some of the more radical forces in Congress allow the government to shut down."

If the house brings out a budget that continues more of the SoS spending, it won't be pretty for them and they know it. Congress is on notice.BY TAR BALL on 01/01/2011 at 15:39

The good jobs are in Mexico. Why don't you go there and stay right after you STFU.BY HERE ARE THE JOBS on 01/01/2011 at 15:49

Pelosi looks so sad it that photo, how sad ( smiles ), I would pay money to have seen her move out of the speakers office - Or maybe she has locked herself inside ( more smiles ).BY RALEIGHMAN on 01/01/2011 at 15:55

"You can underline "adult"." when Pelosi has to hand over the gavel to Boehner. It is going to be hilarious!BY BORNFREE on 01/01/2011 at 15:59

Republicans, who drank that "Tea", should have drank "Hemlock", instead!!!BY ARBUCKLE_DOC on 01/01/2011 at 16:07

• TRUTH IS: Corporations will ALWAYS be CROOKED, unless they are FORCED to be otherwise, with LAWS and REGULATIONS!!!! ~ In order for "Capitalism" to work, correctly, it MUST be regulated, or it quickly becomes CRIMINAL!!! ~ It seems, RepubliCONs just CANNOT GRASP this single simple concept!!! •BY ARBUCKLE_DOC on 01/01/2011 at 16:10

Happy New Year Nancy!!!! Please give my best to the President next time you see him…and I mean my best.BY VERABAKER on 01/01/2011 at 16:13

That picture of her speaks a million words. The days of the traitor Nasty are over. All I can hope for is the investigations will pan out to punishment due a traitor of this country. One more face lift and that nasty beach would have a beard!BY NASTYS PICTURE on 01/01/2011 at 16:18

ARBUCKLE, stop pretending to understand the free market system. What you describe is centralized control like the old Soviet Union.BY USSR on 01/01/2011 at 16:28

To Arbuckle (????? Ok name :)

Free Markets 

Do not equal 

Corporate Fascism 

Do not equal Capitalism

We have not had "Capitalism" in decades 

We have corporatismBY AMERICA UNDER CHAINS on 01/01/2011 at 17:14

The President cares about who tells him what to do and doing it - nothing more 

It's a stage to keep you mesmerized to believe 
You are very far down that elite chain my friend
Very far downBY TO VERA on 01/01/2011 at 17:29

We are about to have a cry baby as Speaker of the House of representatives .BY E CALLAWAY on 01/01/2011 at 17:34

To E

Better a crybaby

Than a MarxistBY NO MORE NANCY on 01/01/2011 at 18:03

Dems don't want to work they want everything for nothing.BY ARBUCKLE DICK on 01/01/2011 at 18:16

Boehner has a purple SEIU is God tie on

Quick - call the bought and paid Police !BY UH OH  on 01/01/2011 at 18:16

Watch your language squat for brains

Ladies are reading too - place nice boysBY NASTY LANGUAGE on 01/01/2011 at 18:20