On Capitol Hill, Republican senators backed down Tuesday from a plan
to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, following widespread outcry
from the public. If the rule change had gone through, it would have been
the very first move enacted by the new Republican-controlled Congress.
But the effort quickly fell apart Tuesday, as lawmakers’ offices were
inundated by calls from an angry public and President-elect Donald Trump
took to Twitter, calling the ethics office "unfair" but encouraging
Republicans to "Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things
of far greater importance!" Today, Republicans are now slated to begin
debating legislation to dismantle parts of President Obama’s Affordable
Care Act. With the 115th Congress now sworn in, Republicans outnumber
Democrats 52 to 48 in the Senate and 241 to 194 in the House. This is
House Speaker Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, speaking Tuesday about
Congress’s Republican majority.
Speaker Paul Ryan: "And to the majority, especially
to our returning members, I want to say this: This is a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This is the kind of thing that most of
us only dreamed about. I know because I used to dream about this a lot.
The people have given us unified government, and it wasn’t because they
were feeling generous. It was because they want results. How could we
live with ourselves if we let them down? How could we let ourselves
down?"
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