GOP eyes more clout in Congress

WASHINGTON -- Exuberant Republican lawmakers, celebrating their expanded majorities in both chambers of Congress and their historic defeat of the Senate Democratic leader, geared up yesterday to pass parts of a conservative agenda they were unable to fulfill in President Bush's first term.

With a net gain of four seats in the Senate, Republicans will be better positioned to attract enough Democratic defectors to overcome opposition to nominations of conservative judges and bills that would limit civil lawsuits and increase domestic energy production, said Senator George Allen of Virginia, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He said Republicans would also seek to enact more tax cuts.

Republicans picked up at least two seats in the House, strengthening a well-disciplined majority that has been a reliable supporter of Bush's proposals. But it was the party's victories in Senate races, including the stunning defeat of Senator Tom Daschle, the chamber's Democratic leader and an 18-year veteran from South Dakota, that gives Republicans more of a chance to forge ahead with their conservative agenda.

''I think there's green lights in America. We're going to move forward, because I think America has given us the thought to, 'continue doing what you're doing,' " said Representative Thomas M. Reynolds, Republican of New York and chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

The election results will probably exacerbate the poisonous relationship between the two parties on Capitol Hill. Republicans could barely contain their glee yesterday over sweeping the Southern Senate seats and ousting several long-serving Democratic representatives in Texas, where a GOP-engineered redistricting plan forced them to run in new, heavily Republican districts.

''This morning, minority leader Nancy Pelosi woke up with a black eye. Not only did she fail in her guarantee to lead the Democrats back to a House majority, but she lost seats. This is a demoralizing loss for House Democrats and is personally damaging to leader Pelosi," Reynolds said.

Allen called the narrow defeat of Daschle -- the first Senate party leader to be ousted in more than 50 years -- a ''monumental victory," and said he hoped Daschle's Democratic colleagues would get what he called the message voters sent them by giving the Republicans a 55-to-45 majority. ''They obstruct. They filibuster," Allen said. He referred to Democrats taking advantage of Senate rules that allow a minority of 40 members to block floor action on legislation or a nomination by threatening a filibuster, or endless debate.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois, and Senate majority leader Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, released written statements saying they were hopeful the two parties could work together. But Democrats said they were not optimistic.

''I hope, as the leader has said, that President Bush will be a uniter and that he will be a compassionate conservative," Pelosi said. ''If, in fact, he continues to do what he did for the last four years, I believe, unfortunately, it's going to be a very, very difficult time."

Facing what is probably to be at least another two years of one-party rule in Washington, until the midterm election, Democrats worried they may rarely if ever be able to participate in drafting bipartisan legislation.

House leaders, using their power to schedule legislation and control debate, have already dramatically limited lawmakers' ability to amend legislation. ''I fear that they will be even more arrogant now, because their numbers have increased. There's a sense that no one will be held accountable," said Representative Marty Meehan, Democrat of Lowell and coauthor of a campaign finance overhaul package that has been one of the few bipartisan pieces of legislation that Congress has passed in recent years.

The narrowly divided Senate, which currently comprises 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and an Independent who votes with the Democrats, has served as a legislative brake on the Bush administration, tempering its tax cuts, thwarting legislation such as the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, and holding up a handful of conservative judges.

Moderate and independent Republicans -- including Senators Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, John E. Sununu of New Hampshire, and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island -- have often had a role in reining in Bush's agenda.

But the GOP gains Tuesday may give Bush and Republican leaders the critical mass they need to approve controversial proposals. Further, the new mathematical division may mean Republicans will swell their majorities on legislative committees when the Senate makes its new assignments. Republicans benefited from a sweep of five open seats in the South, where GOP candidates ran on platforms opposing abortion, taxes, and gun control. Republicans in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana captured the seats being vacated by retiring Democrats. In Florida, Republican Mel Martinez will be the first Cuban-born member of the US Senate and one of two Latinos, along with Colorado Democrat Ken Salazar, who will serve in the chamber beginning in January. Republicans also fended off strong challenges by Democrats in Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Alaska.

Democrats did pick up a seat in Colorado and one in Illinois, where a win by Barack Obama, a rising star in his party, will mean the Senate will include one African-American.

It was Daschle's loss that devastated Democrats and delighted Republicans. The last time a Senate leader was defeated for reelection was in 1952, when Barry Goldwater, a Republican, ousted Senate majority leader Ernest McFarland, a Democrat, in Arizona.

The leading candidate to replace Daschle as leader is Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, a bespectacled and quiet lawmaker who serves as the party's whip, its second-ranking post in the Senate. While Reid is not considered an electrifying speaker, he has earned loyalty from Democratic colleagues for his hard work in lining up votes on amendments.

Senator Chris Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, said he had been approached by several colleagues urging him to run for the post, but has decided to support Reid.