Right away including repealing and replacing obamacare. All of this as ford motor cancels plans to build a new plant in mexico, calling it a, quote, vote of confidence, unquote, in the proBusiness Environment the president elect is creating. Well have more on that in just a moment. But first, lets head to capitol hill where we find our very own peter barnes and what has been quite a busy day, peter. Reporter yeah, thats right, it has been, and paul ryan has not even been sworn in yet, and hes been putting out fires all day so far. The house will vote after everybodys sworn in, members will vote on the rules package, the rules of procedure for how the house will address legislation and conduct itself this in the new congress. And earlier this morning that package included a controversial provision to eliminate a semiindependent office of congressional ethics which congress created in 2008 of after some ethics squabbleddal scandals. It can send anonymous tips to the separate house ethics committee. Critics say, however, that these tips can be untrue and specious and circumvent due process. Supporters say eliminating the office doesnt help to drain the swamp in washington as president elect trump has promised, and he got engaged in this issue this morning, tweeting out, quote with all that congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the independent ethics watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority . Focus on tax and health care. An emergency meeting to pull that provision, top leaders like paul ryan and Majority Leader Kevin Mccarthy did not favor this change or aleast the process for making this change, and supporters promise they will address it later in this year. But democrats today having a field day with this, the democratic leader in the house, nancy pelosi, saying this move showed a clear contempt for ethics on the part of house republicans. So paul ryan already very busy today and, obviously, he has a busy agenda ahead for the new congress and the new house. Ashley . Ashley he certainly does, peter barnes, thank you very much. You can see on the righthand side of the screen paul ryan kind of working has way through the crowd. He will be speaking in just a few moments as hes officially been reelected House Speaker and, of course, well take you there live as soon as he begins with his comments. Republicans will control the house, senate and the white house for the First Time Since 2006, so what can we expect from the gop, and has donald trump already flexed his muscles with the party by getting them to back off on that plan to gut the Congressional Ethics Office . Its been a busy start to the new year. Joining me now, executive editor of the weekly standard, fred barnes. Its the barnes show. Weve gone from peter to fred. Fred, okay, was this just a bad mistake to put forward this proposal to basically gut, as has been said, the office of congressional ethics . I mean, then we hear from the gop leadership who suddenly do a reverse turn on all of this. Doesnt give an overall good picture. Well, look, this is a small thing, and getting rid of that Office Actually made some sense. I think peter explained whats wrong with it but, look, the optics were terrible, you know . You dont want to start out [laughter] i mean, this is a particularly big year to be to throwing out some ethics office. And so i think trumps intervention, then the intervention by ryan and mccarthy carried the day. Ashley yeah, its interesting because a big message of donald trump was drain the swamp indeed. Ashley and that did not seem to fit the bill, did it . It didnt, no. Not at all. Ashley so what should be the first thing on the agenda . The tweet from donald trump saying taxes, health care reform, what would you like to see the first issutackle i think as Mitch Mcconnell said, s got to be obamacare. Obamacare is something that the American People have disliked, the majority of them anyway, have disliked ever since it was passed in 2009. And so that has to be first, repealing it. Then later youll replace it. I think it has to come pretty soon. They cant wait a couple years. And theyre ready to do something on tax reform which will help spur the economy. So those are the first two things. And then all the confirmation hearingsings. The one to watch is next week, and thats Jeff Sessions, the senator from alabama, whos been nominated to be attorney general. Democrats are going to make a big push against him. I think all the republicans, all 52 in the senate will stand with him, but well see if there are any fireworks in that. Remember, he was blocked by democrats back in the 1980s when hed been nominated for a federal judgeship, and i think were going to hear some of the things that came up then again next week with. Ashley well, you know, you mentioned that democrats singling out eight of mr. Trumps nominees they are going to go after. You mentioned one there, Jeff Sessions, of course, rex tillerson, secretary of state. Yeah. Ashley look, ultimately, the republicans stay together, you know, they have the ability to get these confirmations through. So what do the democrats get out of it . Well, theyll show that theyre alive, that they can push back, that theyre not patsies. [laughter] so theyll go through the motions. But i think, look, if they flop on Jeff Sessions and i think they wont be able to make any headway against him, theres an organized effort behind his confirmation, its not just donald trump then i think democrats will be demoralized, and the later opposition to nominees wont be as strong. Ashley you know, its interesting, isnt it, look, when youre at you have the house, the senate and the oval office, it comes with some responsibility, and there are times when theyre going to need cooperation across the aisle. Is this something that donald trump can do in his administration . Well, hes going to have to do it, you know . You dont want look, democrats can filibuster their replacement for obamacare, so youre going to need some democratic votes. I think republicans can get some, but theyll have to compromise a little. This is what president obama never wanted to do, was compromise, and thats why he operated by executive orders. But thats not the best way to do it. So theyre going to ha to compromise with some Senate Democrats who obviously know the horrible destruction that obamacare has brought to the democratic party. Its been a curse. Ashley but theres also, you could argue, a little bit of some Common Ground that needs to be found among the Republican Party itself. You have those on the far right and those who are more moderate, and then you have donald trump whos, you know, its hard to make out what he is at times depending on the issue. But you cant please all the people all the time within his own party, can he . No, you cant. And theres some big issues that havent been resod yet. I think resolved yet. I think republicans are in agreement on obamacare and tax reform, but then you get to immigration, trade, entitlements, and you get and this is an important one how much youre going to spend on infrastructure. Republicans in congress, you know, just passed an expensive highway bill. They dont want to spend a whole lot on infrastructure, and meanwhile trumps talking about spending a trillion dollars over the next ten years. Ashley but he has walked back some of those Campaign Promises he has. Ashley tax brackets and so on. Does that hurt him . Well, look, its inevitable. I dont think it hurts him. I think people expect it, i certainly did. I mean, i dont think the American People are out there pining away for, to make mexico pay for a w wall along the southwest border. There are things that, y know, voters arent stupid. They recognize that theres a lot of exaggeration in campaigns. Ashley thats very true. Joining me now, fox news contributors Leslie Marshall, Mercedes Schlapp joining in on the conversation. Leslie, we see nancy pelosi on the other side of the screen speaking at the house today, were waiting for paul ryan. Again, i know i ask you this a lot, leslie, but as for the democrats, yes, they can make the confirmation hearings, you know, perhaps messy, asking questions of the rex tillersons, business ties and what have you, but do you still have the sense that democrats need new leadership . Yes. I mean, im a democrat, and ive said before to you that we need new leadership. I think the republicans need new leadership, and in a moment were going to hear from some of the old leadership as well. But with regard to the democrats, yes. We need new leadership, we need new names, we need some younger folks in the mix Going Forward. And i think were going to see that. I mean, historically elections are very cyclical, and the democrats have been really blindsided and knocked out of the ring before they came back stronger than ever and hit back six years later. Hopefully it wont take six, two, four at most is my prediction. Ashley mercedes, your comments on whats been going on with the office of congressional ethics. Kind of a strange deal. Theres an effort to basically put lawmakers in charge overseeing other lawmakers. That got9 a lot of pushback. Now Republican Leadership says, no, were going to ditch it for now. What the heck was going on there . [laughter] as fred barnes said, the optics werent very good. Absolutely. I mean, my question is why . Why now . Why bring it up at this moment that were about to launch, the republicans are about to launch into a new era with trump as president . Obviously, trump has made it very clear that his priority is going to to be on repealing and replacing obamacare. I think it was a misstep by the Republican Leadership to push forward these proposed changes to the Congressional Ethics Office. Yes, does it need reform . Absolutely. Was the timing off . Absolutely. This was not something you need to have be the first day in office. It is a distraction. Focus on the big fish, not on the little fish. And right now the big fish is that of replacing obamacare and honing in on Donald Trumps clear message and directive that hes going to make America Great again with these policy changes. Ashley and, mercedes, to follow up, pretty much what you said donald trump said in about 20something words in a tweet. [laughter] why are we bothering with in this now when weve got bigger things to deal with . Do you think his influence was enough to make the leadership say, yeah, this is silly . Im sure there were some in the leadership that were not pleased by Donald Trumps tweet, but heres the deal. Hes the man in charge, he has a vision of how he wants to move america forward, and we really have to focus on the changes that need to be made to obamacare. The mere fact that we need to push forward an Economic Growth package in america, and i think that its clear, you know, that donald trump is going to make his opinions heard. And he will youre going to see, its going to be an interesting sometimes of a fight between republicans and donald trump. I think for the most part youre going to find that theyre going to Work Together on many of these big picture issues. But at the end of the day, hes coming in with a mandate, and that mandate is to make change, and congress is going to have to get used to it. Ashley fred barnes, are you still with us . I hope so. Im here. Ashley what about this tweeting . The commanderintweet, as hes being called. [laughter] he can be effective, he goes after individual companies, but he goes right over the head of the media in between, he goes directly to the people. Whats your thought on that . Is it appropriate for the office even though hes still only president elect . Yeah, i think its perfectly fine for the office, but obviously donald trump has to be careful. When youre tweeting about things like nuclear weapons, maybe you ought to have second thoughts about that and talk about that in private or in speeches that you worked on for a long time and not just toss out really some things that you shouldnt say just on the spur of the moment. So i think he needs to be careful, but tweeting is what donald transfer is going to do donald trump is going to do. As president , he believes in it, he can reach the American Public without the press butting in so easily that hell never give up. Ashley i think youre right. Leslie, let me bring you back in. I talked with fred earlier about the confirmation hearings and the democrats picking out eight particular nominees that they say they want to, quote, go after, if you like. Certainly ask some tough questions. At the top of the list, rex tillerson, secretary of state. Would you agree with that . Absolutely. Look, there shouldnt be, oh, tit for tat or people think, oh, theyre being sore losers. They though they dont have the votes to stop it. But i think they as elected officials owe it to not only the people that elected or reelected them, but even the people that elected donald trump to have full transparency, to have a full vetting process. And when you look to rex tillerson, you must look into the background not only offinane relationship that he had with foreign nations Going Forward because that could be a conflict of interest specifically in the position that he is being nominated for. He has had a very cozy more than at best relationship with russia, and in light of some of these situations that are taking place with other nations in the world that may not be as friendly with the United States right now like china or even the philippines, it is, i think, problematic. Some of the riches and the coziness hes had with other nations, especially with russia and Vladimir Putin in light of some things we found out in this country. I think the democrats are doing their Due Diligence as they should for the American People. Ashley fair enough. Mercedes, what about that relationship . Rex tiller soften, i think he got an award from Vladimir Putin at one time. You could argue that he understands how the game is played. Tillerson has received bisparnt praise on his nomination. I think what he brings to the table is world classics appearance, obviously, as a businessman who understands the complexity of negotiations across the board. I think that, you know, he will receive the questions on his reu7 with putin. Relationship with putin. I like the idea that this man understands the come mentionties of complexities of putin and of dealing with russia. And so i think that what youre going to find is that if he was able to manage a multibillion company with a very complex bureaucracy, he will surely be able to effectively manage the very politically driven to the left state department as well as be able to ashley all right, mercedes, you made a good point. We got it all in. Lets listen to paul ryan now addressing the house after officially being sworn in as House Speaker. Ms. [applause] thank you. Thank you very much. [applause] ill be relatively brief. [laughter] [applause] i want to thank madam leader. You know, i have stood in this spot very, very many times. Today, though, feels a whole lot different. Part of it has to do with all the new faces in the house. You look at all the proud spouses, these beaming children at their best [laughter] peoples parents, its hard, if not impossible, to resist this rush of enthusiasm. There is no sense of foreboding in this house today, theres only the sense of potential. It kind of reminds you that no matter how long you have been here, you havent seen it all. And so i just want to say to our new members and to their families, thank you, congratulations and welcome. [applause] to my own priest, father paul, thank you for being here with us today. Appreciate it. [applause] and to my center, my family, jana, liza, charlie, sam, thank you for all that you have done to make this all possible. [applause] thank you. [applause] theres another reasonor optimism, and that is what weve already achieved by meeting here at this moment. Just months ago our country held a Great Electoral contest, and at times it was a little intense. As you all know, when youre in the heat of it, in the heat of the kind of campaign we had, you start to wonder will the tempers ever cool . Will the system still hold . Does our old, rich tradition still have that magic . Well, it turns out it does. The clash of opinions, the hue and cry of campaigns, the rancor and the dissension in the end, they all dissolve in the silent and peaceful transfer of power. [applause] and so in just a few weeks time, we will welcome a new president who offers us yet another new beginning, a new chance to work toward a more perfect union. For all of our arguments and all of our differences, we are all united by a deep, abiding love of our country. It is [applause] this slender but sturdy thread that holds us together. We always seem to forget this, but it has never failed us. That is why when the votes are counted and the people have spoken, we all accept the verdict. We come back fm the campaign trail, we pack up the yard signs, and today, today as one body we pledge allegiance to one flag, the red, the white and the blue. [applause] thats not the only thing that we have in common. I dont care what your party is. Find one with person in this house one person in this house who doesnt want the best for america. Find one person in this house who does not want to see help given to the unemployed or care for the sick or education for the young or honor our troops. Here, who here among us does not want to open wide the door to opportunity . Who here among us does not want every american, every creed and every color to cross the threshold . You cannot find one person many this building in this building, not one. And that, that is a true cause for celebration. Now [applause] we have a lot