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With the Republicans keeping control of the House and gaining a majority in the Senate, Congress is expected to take a different look at some key issues. Some examples:
©Associated Press
November 7, 2002
Although the House and Senate have passed separate energy bills, an attempt to work out a compromise had been on life support before the election. Congress is almost certain to start over next year.
The legislation is likely to focus more on energy production, but don't expect President Bush to get everything he wants. Democrats, joined by a handful of moderate GOP lawmakers, still have enough clout to stop a proposal for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
Sen. James Jeffords, I-Vt., will lose his chairmanship and, with it, his bully pulpit for challenging the Bush administration. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., probably will replace Jeffords as chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, committee staff say, with Jeffords becoming the senior minority member.
The shakeup will put a chill on efforts by Jeffords and Democratic senators to regulate carbon dioxide emissions as a pollutant and to resume a special tax that expired in 1995 and had helped pay for Superfund toxic waste cleanups.
Bush and congressional Republicans have supported a benefit to be offered mainly through private insurers, a proposal backed by the drug industry. Democrats vigorously oppose this and prefer a government-administered benefit. House Republicans were able to pass a private-insurer-based benefit last year. In the Senate, neither party has managed to get the 60 votes necessary to cut off debate and get a bill to the floor.
One likely area of consensus is a package providing financial help to Medicare providers like doctors, hospitals and HMOs, who have complained that government payments aren't keeping up with the rising costs of health care.
A change in leadership could change the tone of the Senate Intelligence Committee's oversight of intelligence agencies.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., is likely to become chairman, replacing Sen. Bob Graham , D-Fla. At public hearings on the Sept. 11 attacks, Roberts was one of the CIA's biggest defenders. The ranking Republican under Democratic control was one of the CIA's most vocal critics, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama.
The change in leadership could affect the final report of the Senate and House intelligence committees' inquiry into the attacks if it is not completed by year's end.
Congress has already backed Bush on the possible use of force in Iraq. Tuesday's election will only strengthen his support if he decides military action is needed.
Some Democrats privately questioned the use of force, but didn't want to take a public stand against a popular, wartime president on a matter of national security.
Republicans will continue their efforts to limit how much businesses can pay out when they are sued for damages, or even restrict when they can be sued . They probably will push for limits on medical malpractice awards and lawyer fees. The GOP also wants to shield companies from punitive damages in civil lawsuits arising from acts of terrorism.
A Republican-controlled Senate could make it much more enticing for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist to end his 30-year Supreme Court career. The other frequently mentioned candidate for retirement is Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has served on the court since 1981. If the 72-year-old is not ready to retire, she could be a candidate for chief justice if Rehnquist leaves.
With majorities now in both houses, Republicans will try again to make permanent the $1.35-billion in tax cuts enacted last year and scheduled to expire in 2010. House GOP leaders staged a series of election-year votes on measures to do that this year but none of them saw the light of day in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
A new economic stimulus package -- emphasizing new deductions to help investors with losses from the plunging stock market and incentives to enhance retirement savings -- also will be revived.
Both the House and Senate voted overwhelmingly to let commercial airline pilots carry weapons in the cockpit, though the two versions must be reconciled. The House has also voted to extend the Dec. 31 deadline for the Transportation Security Administration to install explosive-detection equipment to screen all airline passenger baggage, and the Senate went along with a more limited plan.