As the 115th Congress begins work, the Republican-led House is already talking about repealing the Affordable Care Act – or Obamacare.
President-elect Donald Trump has said that his "first order of business" as president will be to repeal and replace the health care legislation, and on Wednesday, Vice president-elect Mike Pence told a gathering of GOP lawmakers that getting rid of Obamacare remains a priority.
While Obamacare is already in the crosshairs of the new administration, other policies put into place by President Barack Obama are likely to be getting the same treatment.
With a Republican-led Senate and House, Trump is likely to be able to get his way on legislation Obama supported. As president, Trump can reverse executive orders with a stroke of a pen.
Here’s a look at what the incoming president has said he will do – much of it, he promises, in the first 100 days of his administration.
• Propose a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress – The president can only propose an amendment, it takes the Senate to get action. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is against term limits, so a proposed amendment could have a tough time getting on the Senate agenda.
• Implement a hiring freeze on all federal employees – with the exception of the military, public safety and public health
• Require that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations would have to be eliminated
• Implement a 5 year-ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service
• Implement a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government
• Implement a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections.
Trump has also said that on Day One he would, “begin taking the following 7 actions to protect American workers.” He says his administration will:
• Announce intentions to renegotiate NAFTA or withdraw from the deal under Article 2205
• Announce U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership
• Direct the Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator
• Direct the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers and direct them to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately
• Lift the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion dollars' worth of job-producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal.
• Lift the roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward – the “roadblock” was the denial of a State Department permit. The permit can be easily issued and the pipeline work would start again.
• Cancel billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs and use the money to fix America's water and environmental infrastructure
Additionally, Trump said, “on the first day, I will take the following five actions to restore security and the constitutional rule of law:”
• Will cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama – Trump could revoke the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – or DACA. The immigration program that allows certain undocumented immigrants protection from deportation if they were brought here as a child.
• Will begin the process of selecting a replacement for Justice Scalia from one of the 20 judges on my list, who will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States
• Will cancel all federal funding to Sanctuary Cities – cities that shield undocumented immigrants from federal immigration laws, often by keeping police from turning over undocumented aliens to federal authorities
• Will begin removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won't take them back
• Will suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur. All vetting of people coming into our country will be considered extreme vetting.
Trump has also said he would “work with Congress to introduce the following broader legislative measures and fight for their passage within the first 100 days of my Administration:”
• Middle Class Tax Relief And Simplification Act. An economic plan designed to grow the economy 4 percent per year and create at least 25 million new jobs through massive tax reduction and simplification, in combination with trade reform, regulatory relief, and lifting the restrictions on American energy. The largest tax reductions are for the middle class. A middle-class family with 2 children will get a 35 percent tax cut. The current number of brackets will be reduced from 7 to 3, and tax forms will likewise be greatly simplified. The business rate will be lowered from 35 to 15 percent, and the trillions of dollars of American corporate money overseas can now be brought back at a 10 percent rate.
• End The Offshoring Act. Establishes tariffs to discourage companies from laying off their workers in order to relocate in other countries and ship their products back to the U.S. tax-free.
• American Energy & Infrastructure Act. Leverages public-private partnerships, and private investments through tax incentives, to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over 10 years. It is revenue neutral.
• School Choice And Education Opportunity Act. Redirects education dollars to give parents the right to send their kid to the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school of their choice. Ends common core, brings education supervision to local communities. It expands vocational and technical education, and make 2 and 4-year college more affordable.
• Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act. Fully repeals Obamacare and replaces it with Health Savings Accounts, the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines, and let states manage Medicaid funds. Reforms will also include cutting the red tape at the FDA: there are over 4,000 drugs awaiting approval, and we especially want to speed the approval of life-saving medications.
• Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act. Allows Americans to deduct childcare and elder care from their taxes, incentivizes employers to provide on-side childcare services, and creates tax-free Dependent Care Savings Accounts for both young and elderly dependents, with matching contributions for low-income families.
• End Illegal Immigration Act Fully - funds the construction of a wall on our southern border with the full understanding that the country Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such wall; establishes a 2-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a previous deportation, and a 5-year mandatory minimum for illegally re-entering for those with felony convictions, multiple misdemeanor convictions or two or more prior deportations; also reforms visa rules to enhance penalties for overstaying and to ensure open jobs are offered to American workers first.
• Restoring Community Safety Act. Reduces surging crime, drugs and violence by creating a Task Force On Violent Crime and increasing funding for programs that train and assist local police; increases resources for federal law enforcement agencies and federal prosecutors to dismantle criminal gangs and put violent offenders behind bars.
• Restoring National Security Act. Rebuilds our military by eliminating the defense sequester and expanding military investment; provides Veterans with the ability to receive public VA treatment or attend the private doctor of their choice; protects our vital infrastructure from cyber-attack; establishes new screening procedures for immigration to ensure those who are admitted to our country support our people and our values.
• Clean up Corruption in Washington Act. Enacts new ethics reforms to Drain the Swamp and reduce the corrupting influence of special interests on our politics.
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