(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

By Gabriel Rubin

WASHINGTON, Nov 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The legislative accomplishments of Donald Trump’s first term could be summed up in two words: tax cuts. Even though the Republican party initially controlled both houses of the U.S. Congress, his administration largely failed to pass the rest of the president’s agenda, including a new healthcare law and infrastructure package. Now Trump will likely get a second chance.

Republicans have already clinched control of the Senate, and most number-crunchers project a small majority for the party in the House of Representatives. This gives Trump scope to cement his tax changes for decades to come, while also getting a chance to roll back healthcare, environmental, and financial policies passed by Democrats. A party firmly under his control boosts his chances of success.

Republicans’ first priority will be updating their 2017 tax law to extend reductions for individuals which are due to expire in 2025. Lawmakers intentionally sunset certain provisions to make the overall 10-year price tag appear lower. Now they have a chance to make those cuts permanent while also tacking on additional Trump tax ideas, like eliminating levies on tips, overtime pay, or myriad other exemptions, like one for car loan interest payments. Even then, many of these off-the-cuff campaign trail promises may vanish in the congressional ether.

The broader question will be how a narrow Republican majority in the House handles more contentious policy issues, like the repeal of renewable energy subsidies or parts of the Affordable Care Act. Republicans failed to overturn President Barack Obama’s signature health law during the first Trump term when the late Senator John McCain, a Republican Trump antagonist, doomed the legislation with a thumbs-down on the Senate floor. A renewed effort could put aspects of the ACA at risk, including insurance subsidies for 15 million people.

Similarly, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said just before the election that he would seek to repeal the Biden administration’s renewable energy subsidies. However, the party’s slim majority makes this far from certain: 18 Republican House members wrote to Johnson earlier this year saying they would oppose any rollback of green production and investment credits, which they say have created jobs in their districts.

But McCain is not in the Senate anymore. Trump will not face the same difficulties he had in his first term with certain recalcitrant Republicans, because most have been voted out of office and replaced with the president’s allies. There’s a chance that conservative lawmakers will get carried away, prompting a backlash from more moderate members and the public. But with a popular-vote mandate in their pocket, Republicans in Congress will want to make sure Trump’s second term has more legislative wins than the first. Here, as in other areas, the president looks set to face fewer obstacles.

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CONTEXT NEWS

Republicans on Nov. 9 were close to clinching control of the U.S. House of Representatives, a critical element for President-elect Donald Trump to advance his agenda when he returns to the White House in January.

With votes still being counted from the Nov. 5 general election, Republicans had won 213 seats in the 435-member House, according to Edison Research. Republicans need to win five more seats to keep control of the House.

Edison Research said Democrats have won 205 seats so far. Democrats would need to win 13 of the remaining 17 seats to take control.

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(Editing by Peter Thal Larsen and Pranav Kiran)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on gabriel.rubin@thomsonreuters.com))