HONOLULU (AP) – President Barack Obama plans new steps to help more Americans buy a home and attend college, part of a 2015 agenda he hopes can build on the postelection momentum from high-profile moves on immigration and Cuba.
His approach for the new year appears to look straight past newly emboldened Republicans who take full control of Congress on Tuesday.
Fresh from a two-week Hawaiian vacation, the president was readying executive actions and legislative proposals to start promoting right away while advisers and speechwriters flesh out the broad themes that Obama wants to emphasise in his State of the Union address on January 20.
It will be his sixth since taking office, but his first before a Congress entirely in GOP hands.
In a sign of their divergent paths, Obama was heading out of Washington on Wednesday just as the new Congress was settling in. He plans stops in Michigan, Arizona and Tennessee aimed at highlighting how his own economic policies were contributing to the country’s recovery.
Obama, expected back in Washington today, has appeared energised by the end-of-the-year action on immigration policy and Cuban relations, suggesting continued presidential relevance despite a political landscape dramatically altered by deep Democratic losses on Election Day.
Since the November midterms, the key question has been whether Obama will lean in or away from compromise with Republicans in his final two years.
Of the issues the White House said Obama will emphasise in the coming weeks, none was among the few areas that both Democrats and Republicans have cited as ripe for deal-making – trade, taxes, public works.
An Obama spokesman, Eric Schultz, said Obama would announces proposals this coming week that focus on helping the middle class benefit from the economic recovery.
“There are a number of issues we could make progress on, but the president is clear that he will not let this Congress undo important protections gained – particularly in areas of health care, Wall Street reform and the environment,” Schultz said.
Obama has threatened to use his veto power to block GOP attacks this year.
