House Republicans, determined to create an election-year narrative separate from the divisive presidential race, announced the creation of a half-dozen task force groups charged with developing a “bold, pro-growth agenda” that will be presented to the country in the coming months.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., announced the roll out and declared that the party has been “too timid around here for too long” when it comes to putting forward an agenda.
The six groups will be led by House committee chairs and will tackle national security, tax reform, government regulation, healthcare reform, poverty and welfare reform, and “reclaiming power” ceded to the executive branch.
Ryan said the agenda would be devised by lawmakers with input from their constituents and not driven from the top down, as has been the case historically.
“We need to look beyond this president to 2017,” Ryan said. “We need to offer people a very clear choice so we can get a mandate and begin fixing the nation’s problems.”
Republicans haven’t decided whether they’ll vote on their agenda and try to send legislation to the president, who would almost certainly veto the GOP measures.
In a two-page memo about the task forces, each group identified a goal.
The task force tackling poverty, for example, suggested welfare reform will be part of the agenda. It identified as one goal the need to “strengthen our safety net and reform educational programs to make them more effective and accountable, help people move from welfare to work, and empower productive lives.”
The healthcare task force aims to “repeal and replace Obamacare with a patient-centered system that gives patients more choice and control, increases quality and reduces costs.”
Ryan has said he expects to produce the agenda some time this spring.
