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In an early preview of the hurdles Mr. McConnell would confront, conservative activists in recent days criticized the Kentucky senator for saying it was unrealistic to think the 2010 health law could be repealed. They demanded that he commit to using controversial budget rules, which would allow him to skirt 60-vote procedural hurdles, to erase the Affordable Care Act. Mr. McConnell’s response suggested he is already trying to manage conservatives’ expectations. In a radio address over the weekend, he said that “a new Republican majority wouldn’t mean we’d be able to get everything you want from Washington. But it would mean we’d be able to bring the current legislative gridlock to a merciful end.” (Hughes and O'Connor, 11/4)

The prospect of such deals could be complicated, though, by the chamber’s new composition and the 2016 presidential campaign. Several senators will be seeking to burnish their credentials for possible White House bids. Some older, experienced hands, including four committee chairmen, are retiring. On the right, Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is eager to reprise a fight to repeal the Affordable Care Act—a battle that many of his Republican colleagues say has been litigated and lost, and that they need to move beyond. (Hughes, 11/5)

With two chambers of Congress under GOP control, the budget process could give the party its best chance to alter Obamacare, particularly if Senate Republicans try to use budget reconciliation, which requires just 51 votes. Congress will also try to fix the Sustainable Growth Rate, a pricey formula by which the government reimburses doctors who treat Medicare patients. (Sherman and Everett, 11/5)