THE RESET: Obama, GOP drawing battle lines
President Barack Obama is heading toward bruising fights on Capitol Hill on multiple fronts even before second-term Inauguration Day festivities fade.
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Battle lines are forming in the Senate over his latest national-security team selections and in both chambers over his proposal to raise the government's borrowing limit. And an expected major White House push on gun-control is already encountering heavy, mostly GOP pushback — even though nothing specific is yet on the table.
On Monday, Obama brushed aside intensifying Republican objections to his choice of former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel as defense secretary. The president also was naming counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to head the CIA. Both choices are controversial but Hagel has drawn the most fire.
Republicans have questioned their former colleague's support for Israel and suggest he's soft on Iran. Some Democrats also have raised questions about Hagel. And Brennan, a 25-year CIA veteran, had been dogged by his links to harsh interrogation techniques.
On economic issues, ultimatums have been leveled on both sides.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky put further tax increases off the table in coming debt negotiations. "The tax issue is finished, over, completed," he declared Sunday.
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