Five Ways the Election Will Change Washington

"Trying to get big legislative initiatives done is going to be exceedingly difficult," John Podesta, a former White House chief of staff for President Clinton, said in an interview. He ran Obama's transition operation after the 2008 election. Instead, "what he's got to do is utilize all the tremendous authority he has as president."

Podesta cited events such as a White House forum this month that spotlighted the value of community colleges. Even so, that reflects a considerable downsizing in ambition from the past two years, when the administration focused on bailing out automakers, overhauling health care and devising a new regulatory structure for financial institutions.

In some cases, though, regulatory agencies can move on issues when Congress won't. The Environmental Protection Agency already has said it would take steps to address climate change if Congress does not act.

Republicans are wary.

"One thing I'm particular concerned about — even if we have legislative gridlock, we will not have regulatory gridlock," Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Republican leadership, said in an interview.

He predicts the Obama administration will try to pursue policies through regulations that it has been unable to pass in Congress — among them, prohibiting tiered pricing by Internet providers, capping emissions of greenhouse gases and making it easier for unions to organize in the workplace.

"That causes a lot of concern," he says. "We'll see an attempt to do net-neutrality at the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), cap-and-trade at the EPA and card-check" at the National Labor Relations Board.

In response, Republicans are ready to oversee the agencies aggressively, he said, and in some cases refuse to appropriate money to implement regulations in dispute.

5

California Rep. Darrell Issa is ready to take over.

If Republicans win control of the House, he would chair the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. As chairman, he would be able to convene hearings, issue subpoenas and pursue investigations.

Issa already refers to himself as the Obama administration's "annoyer in chief." Among his first targets, according to spokesman Kurt Bardella, will be spending in the government bailouts, the stimulus bill and the new health care law. He wants to investigate problems in mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and look at food safety, too.

Then there's his outrage at the practice of clearing a primary field for a candidate by offering challengers another job. This year, the Obama White House reached out to Rep. Joe Sestak, now the Democratic Senate nominee in Pennsylvania, in hopes he would withdraw from the primary in favor of Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter.

"If the Republicans do take control of one or both houses, I'm sure they'll unleash a ton of investigations," said Podesta, who was at the Clinton White House when it dealt with a flurry of investigations pressed by then-committee chairman Dan Burton.

Podesta's advice: " 'Isolate' the White House response to the counsel's office and just keep going.

"They're going to inflict a certain amount of pain and annoyance on the White House through the exercise of their investigative function, but the worst thing is for the president to be distracted by that, to have his policy shop distracted by it," he said.

"You have to treat it as a chronic disease, not a life-threatening ailment."