Obama: ‘Congress Will Pass Some Bills I Cannot Sign’

The Republican takeover of the Senate clarifies the calculations for President Obama and Democrats as they consider what they should try to get done.

US President Barack Obama (L) sits next to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, during a meeting with Senate Democratic leadership in the Oval Office of the White House on October 11, 2013 in Washington, DC.
Photograph by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

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By Margaret Talev and Mike Dorning

November 5, 2014 at 9:13 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

In a news conference a day after "the Republicans had a good night" by gaining seats in the U.S. House and ousting the Democratic majority in the Senate, President Barack Obama worked through a to-do list of policy decisions postponed until after Election Day and handicapped a few of them, given the new political dynamics in Washington.

"I’m committed to making sure that I measure ideas not by whether they are from Democrats or Republicans, but whether they work for the American people," Obama said Wednesday, adding "that’s not to say that we won’t disagree over some issues that we’re passionate about. We will. Congress will pass some bills I cannot sign. I’m pretty sure I’ll take some actions that some in Congress will not like. That’s natural. That’s how our democracy works."