WASHINGTON _ Trump administration officials envision a busy first 100 days that include repealing Obamacare, overhauling Medicaid and sending Congress a bill that would boost military spending, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said.
He laid out the ambitious agenda Tuesday evening, but in keeping with a main theme of President-elect Donald Trump's campaign, he did not provide key details about the size and shape of the incoming administration's policy proposals. The early Trump agenda Pence described is as bold and conservative as it is vague.
It is also rife with potential hurdles and political traps.
Trump ran a populist campaign that was based on big promises but few policy specifics. His No. 2 told a Heritage Foundation audience at that the next president is "going to be in the promise-keeping business." Pence, a former House member who appears to be the Trump team's point man on Capitol Hill, said the transition team already is working with GOP congressional leaders to shape its agenda and the required legislation.
Pence pledged that the main focus of the Trump administration would be on economic growth. He said it will take a lot of work with lawmakers to enact all the legislation needed to rev up what was a slow-but-steady economic recovery under the Obama administration. To that end, he drew chuckles from the Heritage audience when he recalled telling his former House colleagues during a recent meeting to "buckle up, the vacation's over."
Though he mostly repeated first-100-days pledges he and Trump have made since Election Day, Pence did reveal plans to send Congress a "military supplemental" spending bill during its first 100 days to help with its pledge to "rebuild our military."
Existing defense spending caps will be an instant hurdle. Pence did not specify whether the Trump team plans to classify the extra funding in a way that would make those dollars subject to the caps. Trump officials have not indicated whether they would cut a deal with Democrats to secure the additional defense dollars by giving them extra domestic spending. (Pence also did not indicate the size of the coming Pentagon spending bill, known as a "supplemental" in Washington parlance.)
Pence accused Obama of "hollowing out" the U.S. military, ticking off a list of combat platforms he said are more than 25 years old. "That's about to change, everybody," Pence said. "We're going to restore the arsenal of democracy."
The incoming vice chief executive started with defense policy, but spent most of his remarks about the first 100 days _ after nearly 10 minutes of thank yous _ talking about the new administration's domestic plans.
He vowed that the Trump administration will repeal Obamacare "lock, stock and barrel," adding "the No. 1 priority of the administration is to keep that promise to the American people." He did not, however, describe what the GOP would replace it with, saying only that the party will propose "free-market reforms that reduce the costs of health care without growing the size of government."
Getting rid of Obamacare without replacing it would mean 24 million people would lose health insurance by 2012, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute. That could hurt Republicans up and down the ballot in upcoming elections.
The new administration also will push legislation to give states more say over Medicaid via block grants. The idea is to allow state governments to "innovate" toward the goal of driving down health care costs "while we meet the needs of those who are struggling," Pence said.
Should such legislation require 60 votes in the Senate, getting a handful of Democrats to support it would take some forceful arm-twisting.
Shortly after taking the Oath of Office, Trump intends to repeal "every single unconstitutional executive order that Barack Obama signed into law," Pence said to loud applause.
He also echoed Trump by vowing to roll back scores of Obama era regulations, saying he and the president-elect heard more about that issue than any other while on campaign trail. Pence also promised to simplify the tax code and lower the federal business tax to 15 percent "so businesses in America can compete and create jobs in this country."
That's why Trump will be a "champion in the Oval Office and for American jobs," he said.
Though the U.S. economy has improved under Obama _ albeit slower than many Republicans wanted _ Pence said "things are about to change in the American economy and that begins on Jan. 20."
For Republicans in Washington, Pence left them with this advice: "We've got work to do. So enjoy your dinner. Then roll your sleeves up."
