By LISA MASCAO, correspondent of the AP Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that Republicans are “ready to deliver” the president-elect of Donald Trump agenda after his election victory, insisting the GOP won’t make the mistakes of last time and will be much better prepared for Trump’s second term in the White House.

Standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with the House leadership team, the speaker said there would be no time to waste before getting to work on Trump’s “America First” agenda of securing the southern border, projecting power on the world stage and putting end of the “awakening”. and radical gender ideology’. He expects Republicans to run a unified government, even if control of the House is still too early to call.

“We stand ready to fulfill America’s mandate,” Johnson said.

“We will be ready on day one. This time we are ready.”

With the Capitol behind his group, he said, “We’re going to raise an ‘America First’ banner over this place.”

Trump will meet with Johnson at the Capitol on Wednesday while the president-elect is in town for his visit to the White House, and Johnson said he will spend the weekend with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, while they are getting ready. for the new year.

Congress returned to a changed Washington on Tuesday Trump’s the hard-right agenda is quickly taking shape, supported by eager Republican allies who are watching the full sweeping power on Capitol Hill as Democrats sort out what went wrong.

Even as the final election results are still being tallied, House and Senate leadership are moving toward a second-term Trump White House and what he calls a mandate for government, with mass deportations, deregulation of industry and wholesale cutbacks in the federal government.

Trump is already testing the norms of governance in this presidential transition period — telling the Senate to drop its advisory and consent role and simply accept his cabinet nominated – and he is employment of his administration and finding legislators willing to bend those civic traditions.

“Trump is going to deliver on his deportations, his drilling, his wall — it’s going to take all of us coming together,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a conservative member of the House Freedom Caucus.

But first, House and Senate leaders will hold internal party elections this week for their own jobs. Most top Republican leaders depend on Trump for their political existence and have worked for it approaches the president-elect to strengthen loyalty.

In the Senate, where Republicans took power from Democrats on election night, three Republican senators who are vying to become the new GOP leader they rushed to agree to Trump’s plan to quickly confirm presidential nominees.

All in all, it’s a fundamental reshaping of not only the centers of power in Washington but also the rules of government, as Trump returns to the White House in January with a potential GOP-led Congress that is far less skeptical or wary of his approach than eight. years ago and much more willing to support him.

“This is going to be a very difficult time,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

She described the “horrible immigration policies” that Trump promised voters and insisted that progressives in Congress would provide an “effective check” on the new White House, just as Democrats did during his first term, fighting efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. and other policies.

At the same time, Jayapal warned that Trump would have “far fewer restrictions.”

“Our members are ready to take the fight back,” she said, standing with a handful of newly elected progressive lawmakers she called “shining lights” joining Congress.

The first tests will take place during “lame duck” the period from the remaining days of this Congress, the eight-week sprint to January 3, 2025, when new lawmakers are sworn in.

As lawmakers return this week, they’ll be joined by dozens of new names in the House and Senate, who are in town for freshman orientation weeks and private leadership elections scheduled for Wednesday.