"One of the ways to get this economy growing again I think it is to deal with regulatory changes," Sen. Mitch McConnell said. | Getty McConnell urges Trump to embrace Keystone, fossil fuels

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is urging President-elect Donald Trump to pivot sharply toward fossil fuels, telling Trump in a private meeting Thursday to swiftly approve the Keystone XL pipeline and end the "war on coal."

The Kentucky Republican said he and his Senate Republican Conference will be urging Trump to use his executive office powers to quickly rewrite President Barack Obama's policy portfolio.


"One thing I do hope he'll do that I recommended yesterday that won't surprise any of you ... is approve the Keystone pipeline," McConnell told reporters in Louisville. "That's the kind of thing that I hope he'll be looking at and we're helping him look at: Things that he can do quickly on his own because much of what President Obama did that slowed our economy he did on his own."

The GOP leader said that his one-on-one meeting with Trump, which notably did not include staff, centered on reforming U.S. health care policy as well as putting a conservative in the vacant Supreme Court seat, which McConnell said he will act on "expeditiously."

So while congressional priorities did come up, McConnell is also urging Trump to make quick work of Obama's executive orders and regulatory regimes. McConnell has repeatedly attacked Obama's coal policies, using what he deems an Obama-inspired "depression" in Eastern Kentucky as a key talking point in his 2014 reelection run.

"One of the ways to get this economy growing again I think it is to deal with regulatory changes," McConnell said.

Separately, McConnell said he hopes to pursue a comprehensive tax reform bill next year as well and splashed some cold water on a big spending package aimed at rejuvenating the economy.

"A government spending program is not likely to solve the fundamental problem of growth," McConnell said.