Washington — Good morning from the Capitol, where House GOP leader John Boehner and House GOP whip Eric Cantor are huddling in Boehner’s office, discussing the returns from last night and the road ahead.
In a brief meeting with reporters, Boehner says he is “humbled by the trust that the American people have placed in us.”
“As I said last night, our job is to listen to the American people and follow the will of the American people,” Boehner says. “It’s pretty clear that the American people want us to do something about cutting spending here in Washington and helping to create an environment where we’ll get jobs in our economy.”
“We’ve got a big job ahead of us,” Boehner continues. “That’s why you’ll see us roll up our sleeves and go to work today.” The House GOP, he says, has a “mandate for Washington to reduce the size of government,” so “change course we will.”
On health care, Boehner says that “it is important for us to lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this monstrosity and replace it with commonsense reforms,” but did not get into specifics about his legislative agenda.
“Last night also indicated that the American people are tired and frustrated with Washington,” says Cantor. “It is very clear that they want a government that listens to them.”
“Frankly, whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, or independent, the people of this country want to see results,” Cantor continues. “Our first order of business has got to be to create jobs. The way the American people spoke last night, they said that the Obama administration’s agenda has failed. They rejected that approach and want to see us return to a sense of limited government. That means, as the leader just said, cut spending and get us back to an era in which we can promote opportunity. People are ready to step up and accept responsibility so we can promote and reward success.”