Republicans Set to Wield New Power in Washington

Mark Wilson/Getty Images 7:27 a.m. | Updated Republicans will lay claim to a broad — if partial — governing mandate at exactly noon on Wednesday, ushering into Washington scores of new conservative lawmakers who promise to challenge President Obama’s vision for America’s economic future.

The start of the 112th Congress will be marked in the nation’s capital city by grand ceremonies and symbolic gestures. The new owners of prime offices will get their keys. Online Twitter handles will be quietly changed. Powerful committee assignments will become official. And a flood of first-time lawmakers will raise their hands as they take the oath of office.

In the House, Representative John Boehner of Ohio will accept the Speaker’s gavel from Nancy Pelosi of California, a symbolic act that will transfer power inside “the People’s House” to Republicans and will bring an abrupt end to the tenure of the first woman to lead the institution.

“Our spending has caught up with us, and our debt will soon eclipse the size of our entire economy,” Mr. Boehner will say in remarks after being sworn in, according to aides. “Hard work and tough decisions will be required of the 112th Congress. No longer can we fall short. No longer can we kick the can down the road.”

In Washington for the day of events will be four busloads of friends and family from Mr. Boehner’s Congressional district in Ohio, including 10 of his 11 siblings, who will sit in his gallery. “The people voted to end business as usual,” he will say, “and today we begin carrying out their instructions.”

Senate Republicans, having failed to achieve a similar electoral takeover in November, will watch as Democrats once again install Senator Harry Reid of Nevada as the majority’s leader. But he will lead a shrunken Democratic caucus confronted by some new conservative adversaries who have the backing of the Tea Party movement.

The influence of that movement in Washington remains uncertain even as dozens of its adherents prepare to take the oath in both the House and Senate. Efforts to please them are already planned by Republican leaders, including an historic reading of the Constitution on the House floor later this week.

But there also is evidence of brewing disagreements between the Tea Party lawmakers, who oppose raising the nation’s debt limit, and their Republican leadership, which has already acknowledged that such a move could threaten to derail the nation’s shaky economic recovery.

Republican leaders played down those potential areas of conflict as they began preparations for a vote next week in the House to repeal Mr. Obama’s health care legislation — a vote they hope will unite the new Republican majority and send a message to the public and the president about their priorities.

“The imperative is that we put a repeal bill across the floor,” Eric Cantor, the new majority leader in the House, told reporters Tuesday. He said the move would reflect “our willingness to listen to the American people.”

Unlike the Republicans of 1995, who swept into power after decades in the minority, many members of Mr. Boehner’s majority remember leadership from just four years ago. The insurgents led by House Speaker Newt Gingrich 16 years ago ended up in a deadlock with President Bill Clinton that shut the government down and eroded their support among voters. The current crop of Republicans hopes to avoid a similar fate, even as they vow to stay true to the principles that earned them the majority.

In response, Democrats are vowing not to be cowed by the new political reality in Washington. Democratic Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the outgoing majority leader, promised that Republicans will “find us a loyal, but focused and tenacious opposition.”

Both parties on Wednesday plan to seek political advantage by modifying the rules of the chambers they lead. House Republicans will write new rules that should give their party more control over the nation’s budgeting and will symbolically force more openness in the legislative process. Democrats in the Senate will consider modifications to the filibuster rules, though a final decision could be delayed for weeks.

In an opinion article published Tuesday in the Washington Post, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, warned his Democratic colleagues against tinkering with the rules.

“Now that they’ve lost an election, they’ve decided to change the rules rather than change their behavior,” Mr. McConnell wrote. “They should resist the impulse. Democrats should reflect on what they have done to alienate voters, not double down on the approach that got them here.”

As the hours unfold on Wednesday, the president’s party will for the first time see the visual evidence of their losses last November: Democrats will be fewer in number in the halls of Congress and, in the House, they will no longer control the legislative agenda.

“Democrats will judge what comes before Congress by whether it creates jobs, strengthens our middle class, and reduces the deficit — not burdening future generations with debt,” Ms. Pelosi plans to say, according to remarks released to reporters Wednesday. “When the new Speaker of the House, John Boehner, and the new Republican majority, come forward with solutions that address these American challenges, you will find in us a willing partner.”

Mr. Obama, who returned Tuesday morning from his Hawaiian vacation, said aboard Air Force One that he expects Republicans to “play to their base for a certain period of time.” But he challenged them to put aside partisan politics for the year to focus on improving the economy.

“My expectation, my hope is that John Boehner and Mitch McConnell will realize that there will be plenty of time to campaign for 2012 in 2012, and that our job this year is to make sure that we build on the recovery,” Mr. Obama said. “We started to make good progress on that during the lame duck, and I expect to build on that progress when I get back.”

Mr. Obama may divert some of the attention from the new Republican congress this week by announcing a broad shuffle of his staff that could include the departure of Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, and the arrival of William Daley, a former Secretary of Commerce, as the new White House chief of staff.