Speaker takes victory lap after adding to majority

Fresh off winning a historic Republican House majority, Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that the election shows voters are on the side of GOP policies and called on President Obama to heed that message.

“The president said, ‘I listened to what happened Tuesday night.’ Really?” the Ohio Republican asked at his first news post-election news conference at the Capitol.

{mosads}A day before he and other congressional leaders plan to break bread with Obama at the White House, Boehner warned the president that if he takes executive action on immigration, it would “poison the well” with Republicans in the final two years of his presidency.

And the Speaker vowed that the House would vote again on repealing ObamaCare, saying the president should be open to bipartisan fixes to the healthcare law.

“Finding common ground is gonna be hard work,” Boehner said, “but it will be even harder if the president isn’t willing to work with us.”

Boehner and the incoming Senate majority leader, Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have pledged to work with Obama on areas where they agree. But Boehner made clear to reporters Thursday that he answers to voters — not the president.

“My job is not to get along with the president, just to get along with him, although we actually have a nice relationship,” Boehner said. “My job is to listen to my members and listen to the American people and make their priorities our priorities.”

Reacting to Democrats’ Election Day drubbing, Obama said Wednesday he was listening to voters who rejected his party at the ballot box. But he also said he was listening to the majority of Americans who chose to sit out this election.

That prompted a tongue-in-cheek response from Boehner spokesman Michael Steel, who said: “The president is to be commended on his telepathic powers.”

On Tuesday night, Republicans seized control of the Senate and grew their House majority to its largest level in generations. Thursday’s press conference was an opportunity for Boehner to outline what his larger majority would do in the coming year, but also gave the Speaker a chance to take a victory lap.

“The American people have made it clear they are not for ObamaCare,” Boehner said. “Ask all those Democrats who lost their elections Tuesday. A lot of them voted for ObamaCare.”