“While he is en route to Honolulu, the president will stop in San Bernardino, California, to visit privately with the families of the victims of the terror attack in San Bernardino that occurred earlier this month”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Wednesday.
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President Barack Obama says 6 million people have signed up for coverage under his health care law so far this year. All times are local.
The White House is feeling a newfound optimism in working with new House Speaker Paul Ryan, who shepherded the massive omnibus spending and tax package through his conservative caucus in recent weeks.
At a news conference, Obama said Congress is ending the year on a “high note” and noted the passage of transportation and education bills.
With a Republican Congress unlikely to go along with parts of his vision, Obama will likely use his “pen and phone” method of issuing executive orders, and also expects to be a player in the 2016 presidential election, aides said. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks. Those successes have been tempered by a lack of progress on the president’s other priorities, like closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
“Congress and I have a long runway to get some things done for the American people”, he said.
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But Obama says he doesn’t think the party will hold to that position.
