Republican Feud Looms as Pressure Builds for Bold Agenda
Republicans spent the past year battling with Democrats for control of the U.S. Congress. Now, the party is bracing for its own internal feud over a fresh agenda.
Fissures are erupting between Republican Party leaders and the rank and file over whether to first advance the most ambitious goals -- dismantling Obamacare and rolling back environmental rules -- or focus on issues less likely to face a veto from President Barack Obama.
Those close to House leaders are signaling their priority will be more pragmatic initiatives over partisan fights, to show the party is capable of governing. These include repealing a medical-device tax enacted to help pay for Obamacare and granting Obama broader trade-negotiating authority.
“There’ll be plenty of people who will argue: Let’s keep pushing the president,” said Oklahoma Representative Tom Cole, an ally of House Speaker John Boehner. “That’s a mistake. Before the American people will trust you with the presidency you have to prove you can run Congress.”
Representative Tim Huelskamp, a lawmaker from Kansas aligned with the Republicans’ limited-government Tea Party wing, disagrees.
“No more excuses,” Huelskamp said in an interview. “We start with what most Republicans were talking about in their campaigns,” he said, citing the need for a more vigorous attempt to repeal Obama’s health-care law.
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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-11-06/republican-feud-looms-as-pressure-builds-for-bold-agenda
