Nancy Pelosi is slated to become the first female Speaker in the U.S. House of Representatives. - Reuters
WASHINGTON (AP):
President George W. Bush took a concilliatory approach toward Democrats yesterday after they won control of Congress for the first time in 12 years, but he called on the current Republican-dominated body to complete his agenda before it leaves office.
In a rout once considered almost inconceivable, Democrats won a 51st seat in the Senate late Wednesday and regained total control of both chambers of Congress after 12 years of near domination by the Republican Party.
The shift dramatically alters the government's balance of power, leaving Bush without Republican congressional control to drive his legislative agenda after the new Congress is sworn in this January. Democrats hailed the results and issued calls for bipartisanship even as they vowed to investigate administration policies and decisions.
Bush cast his objectives for the current Congress as a way for both parties to "rise above partisan differences." But with Democrats sceptical of many items on his agenda, Bush's plea for Congress to do things his way could complicate the reconciliation effort.
"It is our responsibility to put the elections behind us and work together on the great issues facing Ame-rica," Bush said after meeting with his Cabinet and Republican leaders from the House and Senate. "Some of these issues need to be addressed before the current Congress finishes its legislative session, and that means the next few weeks are going to be busy ones."
President's to-do list
On the president's to-do list for the current Congress before January's changeover in power: spending bills funding government's continued operation "with strong fiscal discipline and without diminishing our capacity to fight the war on terror"; legislation retroactively authorising his warrantless domestic surveillance of suspected terrorists; energy legislation; and congressional approval for a landmark civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with India and for normalising trade relations with Vietnam.
