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 They floated ideas to fight the Democrat Obama's moves to forge
ties and expand commercial ties with the communist-led island after
half a century of hostility. Their ideas included denying funds to
reopen a Havana embassy and blocking the confirmation of a U.S.
ambassador.
"We're going to look at all our options," Republican Senator Marco
Rubio of Florida, a Cuban-American who has led the charge against
the thaw in relations, said at a Miami news conference without
providing specifics.
Many legal experts, and the White House, say Obama has broad
executive powers to ease restrictions on commerce, transportation
and banking, even if Congress objects.
"The steps that the president announced are steps that are well
within his executive authority as president of the United States,"
White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters, adding he was
"not particularly" worried about Republican opposition.
 Earnest also said the White House would be willing to consider a
possible precedent-shattering visit by Cuban President Raul Castro.
On Wednesday, Earnest said Obama was open to a visit to Havana.
Fidel Castro, Raul's brother, was the last Cuban leader to visit the
United States. He spoke to the Council on Foreign Relations in 1959
and in later years addressed the United Nations.
Mid-level U.S. diplomats visited Havana on occasion over the years
while the countries cooperated on immigration, drug interdiction and
oil-spill mitigation. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited
Havana in 2002 and 2011, long after he left office.
NO TIE TO HUMAN RIGHTS
Earnest and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere
Affairs Roberta Jacobson, who is expected to visit Cuba in January,
said renewed relations were not directly tied to progress on human
rights in Cuba.
"The president has had the leaders of both Burma and China to the
United States," Earnest said. By meeting such leaders, the United
States can better influence countries to respect universal human
rights, he said.
Legal experts say Congress could not block the opening of a U.S.
Embassy, since the U.S. Constitution gives the president – not the
legislature – authority over diplomatic relations.
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The United States has an Interests Section in the old U.S. Embassy
building in Havana, and it would take little to adapt it. The Senate
has left many other U.S. missions without ambassadors around the
globe this year, as Republicans held up Obama’s nominations.
Other options include writing funding restrictions into a budget
bill or trying to pass standalone legislation seeking to preserve
Cuba’s isolation, such as a bill imposing more sanctions. Obama
would almost certainly veto such legislation.
The biggest obstacle to normal ties with Cuba is a decades-old
embargo. With Republicans due to take control of both houses of
Congress in January, chances are slim of lawmakers scrapping all
sanctions on Cuba soon.
Those sanctions are enshrined in law, most notably the Helms-Burton
act passed in 1996.
Obama has called on Congress to repeal that law, although Republican
leaders have said they will not allow any legislation to move in the
House of Representatives that would ease the embargo.
Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, who will be the Senate Majority
Leader in the new Congress, has yet to comment on the restoration of
Cuban-American ties.
(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Arshad Mohammed; Writing
by John Whitesides; Editing by Howard Goller)
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