WASHINGTON — Resurgent Republicans rallied Sunday behind an agenda based on unwavering opposition to the Obama White House and federal spending, laying the groundwork for gridlock until their 2012 goal: a new president, a "better Senate" and ridding the country of that demonized health care law.
Republicans said they were willing to work with President Barack Obama but signaled it would be only on their terms. With control of the White House and the Senate, Democrats showed no sign they were conceding the final two years of Obama's term to Republican lawmakers who claimed the majority in the House.
"I think this week's election was a historic rejection of American liberalism and the Obama and Pelosi agenda," said Rep. Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican who is stepping down from his post in GOP leadership. "The American people are tired of the borrowing, the spending, the bailouts, the takeovers."
Voters on Tuesday punished Democrats from New Hampshire to California, giving Republicans at least 60 new seats in the House. Republicans picked up 10 governorships, gained control of 19 state legislative chambers and holds the highest number of state legislative seats since 1928.
"It was a very rough week, there's no sugarcoating that," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Democrats who controlled the House, Senate and White House for two years now must work with Republicans, who have not shied from pushing their agenda.
"I don't see any sign of the president retreating from his principles, but I do see his willingness to reach out, and wherever reasonable and in the interests of moving the economy and jobs forward, he's going to work with the Republicans, as are the Democrats," Van Hollen said.
Republicans have made clear they plan to work stridently against what they view as a White House out of control and out of touch.
"The president did say this week he's willing to work with us," said Rep. Eric Cantor, the Virginia Republican who is in line to become majority leader. "Now listen, are we willing to work with him? First and foremost, we're not going to be willing to work with him on the expansive liberal agenda he's been about."
First target: Democrats' signature health care law.
"This was a huge, huge issue in the election last Tuesday," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "A vast majority of Americans feel very, very uncomfortable with this new bill. People who supported us, political independents, want it repealed and replaced with something else. I think we owe it to them to try."
The reality remains that Republicans do not have enough seats to marshal through a full repeal if Democrats remain steadfast in their support. Even if Republicans were able to sway enough Democrats to support their effort, it would face a certain veto from Obama.
"Admittedly, it will be difficult with him in the White House," McConnell said. "But if we can put a full repeal on his desk and replace it with the kind of commonsense forms that we were advocating during the debate to reduce spending, we owe it to the American people to do that."
Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who will take leadership of the House budget committee, said the GOP will reign in the overhaul through oversight hearings and cutting off money to implement the law, "but then again, the president has to sign those bills, so that is a challenge."
"You can't fully repeal and replace this law until you have a new president and a better Senate. And that's probably in 2013, but that's before the law fully kicks in, in 2014," Ryan said.
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