Republicans now control the house and they are at war, launching a three-pronged assault on the obama administration. starting with health care reform. first, in a symbolic vote to repeal it. then, an effort to starve it by cutting off the money. repeal of course would never make it out of a senate that is still controlled by democrats. house republicans will be able to make a statement but it won t be law. reporter: the next line of attack, slashing government spending. threatening to cut off the government s ability to borrow money unless spending goes back to where it was before the stimulus and the banking bailout. the third wave of the attack? investigations. holding hearings on everything from medicare fraud to the bp oil spill. if we run a two-year election campaign starting the beginning of the new year, this country s going to heck in a hand basket. because we re facing severe challenges. reporter: there are real parallels here with 1995, when president clinton found himself facing a fully republican-controlled congress. that, of course, began a showdown that ended up in a government shutdown.
A good idea and the commitment to see it through. reporter: house republicans are responding with a three-pronged assault on his administration. after repeal, an attack on a second front. slashing government spending, threatening to cut off the government s ability to borrow money. the third wave of attack, investigations on everything from medicare fraud to the bp oil spill. if we run a two-year election campaign starting the beginning of the new year, this country s going to heck in a hand basket. because we re facing severe challenges. reporter: senate majority leader harry reid has sent a letter warning incoming house speaker john boehner the senate will block any effort to overhaul the new health care reform law. republicans don t seem to mind. they ll be able to tell voters in 2012, they fulfilled their promise to try to repeal the law they call obama care. rob and vinita? the president appears ready to pick his new chief of staff. former commerce secretary bill daley from the clinton administration is under consideration for the top job. and gene sperling, another veteran of the clinton years, has emerged as the top choice
D.c. later this morning. mr. obama may need the extra rest to face some of the challenges ahead of him on capitol hill. john hendren is joining us this morning with the latest on the new congress. hi, john. reporter: good morning, rob and vinita. when the president arrives from hawaii he may find a chillier than usual reception on capitol hill. in the house, anyway. the new congress is expected to begin with new confrontation. it s political theater with a point. we said that we would bring up a vote to repeal health care early. that will happen before the president s state of the union address. reporter: republicans, now in full control of the house, plan to begin a new era with a symbolic vote to repeal the new health care reform law, then an effort to starve it by cutting off the money. the repeal effort has no chance in a senate still under democratic control. house republicans will be able to make a statement, but it won t be law. reporter: president obama, wrapping up a hawaiian vacation, began the year with an olive branch for republicans. i m willing to work with anyone of either party who s got
reporter: the patient s blood is run across a special microchip covered with tiny bristles, treated with a glue that binds to cancer cells. when the blood passes through those bristles the cancer cells stick. the healthy cells pass on through. in the future how might this test be used to affect people s treatment of cancer? the hope is by measuring the number of cells we can have a better sense of whether the treatments are effective or not. reporter: today you treat a tumor, then sometimes it s not until months later a biopsy or x-ray reveals whether that treatment is working. critical time. the hope is that this new blood test will allow your doctor to see how your treatment is working right away. greg verttos is in a clinical trial using the new technology. this would really allow more prompt response. and for me, that would be that could make all the difference in the world. reporter: johnson & johnson and the stand up to cancer fund-raising effort are providing $30 million toward this new research. it raises the question, could a blood test be used to detect if you have cancer in the first