Republicans glumly open lame-duck session of Congress

House fails to pass bill normalizing trade with Vietnam ahead of Bush visit

? Lawmakers present and future mingled in the Capitol’s marble hallways Monday as Republicans exiled from power in last week’s elections glumly opened a lame-duck session and wide-eyed Democrats prepared to take control of Congress.

After losing majorities in the House and Senate last week, Republicans of the fading 109th Congress still faced weighty work before year’s end, including keeping the government in operating funds and confirming a new defense secretary.

The news didn’t get much better when the GOP opened the session Monday. House Republicans trying to give President Bush a gift for Vietnam ahead of his visit there Friday failed to pass a bill normalizing trade relations with the Hanoi government. The House was expected to vote again on the bill Wednesday.

So it goes in the twilight of the Republican Revolution.

Asked how he was doing as the House opened its first vote, outgoing Majority Leader John Boehner replied, “Lovely.”

The session won’t be as short as some might hope. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who is considering a bid for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, envisioned Congress meeting three more weeks this year, this one and the first two weeks of December.

Frist urged Republicans not to be discouraged by this “time of transition” – and to listen to the voters who ousted them from power.

“Change can be tough,” said Frist, R-Tenn., whose self-imposed 12-year term limit in the Senate comes to an end in seven weeks. “That is a very powerful message from the American people: Move forward and move forward together.”

Bipartisanship was more a matter of pragmatism, noted Frist’s successor.

“We can’t accomplish anything as Democrats standing alone. As we’ve shown, the Republicans couldn’t accomplish theirs standing alone,” said Democratic Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, who will become the new majority leader in January.

Returning lawmakers had company from more than 50 House members-to-be and most of the 10 senators-in-waiting. The incoming freshmen attended orientation meetings Monday and embarked on toast-of-the-town schedules – from private tours of the Capitol and the White House to dinner with Frist and a reception with Bush.

But it wasn’t out with old, in with the new just yet.

A lame-duck session could last until Dec. 22 with a two-week break for Thanksgiving. On their agenda are nine spending bills, reviving popular business and middle-income tax breaks; bioterrorism legislation and giving doctors a reprieve from billions of dollars in scheduled Medicare payment cuts.

The Vietnam trade bill failed Monday to gain the two-thirds majority required to pass without lengthy debate. House Republicans were expected to try again to pass the measure Wednesday, under rules that require only a simple majority for passage.

The Senate started work Monday on a spending bill for veterans and military construction.

The atmosphere Monday echoed 1994, when Congress briefly returned after the GOP landslide to ratify a trade bill. Then, there were dozens of the “living dead” – Democratic lawmakers who lost re-election bids – who returned to Washington still smarting over their losses. There are at least 26 defeated Republican incumbents in that situation this year.

Ten races, all in the House, are still undecided.