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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called Friday for President Obama to focus on “realistic” reforms in his State of the Union address that have a chance of passing the GOP-controlled House and Senate. ... “There’s much we can get accomplished for the American people, if the president’s willing to work with us,” McConnell said. “We’ll be looking for signs of that in the speech he delivers.” ... But he acknowledged that Republicans and Democrats remain far apart on many issues, such as healthcare reform. “We’ve got some distance to cover,” he said. (Bolton, 1/16)

Republican leaders have yet to spell out their strategy for tackling Obamacare now that they control Congress, and so far have pursued a piecemeal approach -- but are crossing their fingers that a looming Supreme Court case will give them an opening to unravel the law. (Weber, 1/17)

Republicans running Congress have promised to use every weapon in their arsenal to take down President Barack Obama's health care law. But now some are questioning whether to use the congressional budget process to derail the 2010 law or save the special step for more traditional purposes like cutting spending or overhauling the tax code. A potentially divisive debate between tea party forces and GOP pragmatists looms. (1/20)

Washington’s Republican majority has plenty of challenges in the months ahead. Department of Homeland Security funding. Highway bills. The debt ceiling. Health care policy. Agreeing on a budget. Republicans never expected to solve all their problems here, but the Congress of Tomorrow retreat offered little in the way of what will actually come tomorrow, next week, next month or next year. When Chief Deputy Whip Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) was asked what he got out of this retreat, he paused and smiled for about 10 seconds, then said: “There’s far more consensus on matters of budget, health care and immigration than is perceived. Our members understand the consequences of what we’re doing and that we have to lead.” Asked what those broad ideas will look like in D.C., McHenry smiled again and said, “We’ll shape that.” (Sherman and Everett, 1/16)

In the homestretch of the GOP’s battle against Obamacare, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he is seeing a groundswell of angry voters that is helping advance the party’s chances of a full repeal. “There is a tide rising,” Cassidy repeated three times in an interview with The Hill on Friday. Fresh off the campaign trail, the newly-elected senator said he is seeing “all these angry people” amplify their calls for repeal as they start seeing the effects of Obamacare. (Ferris, 1/18)

Millions of children could find themselves without health insurance if Congress can’t cut a deal on funding for a popular federal program later this year. Funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, expires in late September. Should it end, Americans age 18 and under would face few — and expensive — options to remain insured. (Shapiro, 1/19)