Washington ? Just when it looked like the political climate could not get worse for President Bush and the Republican Party, more storms have gathered.

This month’s abrupt spike in gas prices is fueling new worries about the party’s prospects in the fall elections, which have already been roiled by controversy over GOP policies on immigration, the federal budget and Iraq.

So when Congress returns today from a spring recess, Republicans face a political landscape even more challenging than when they left town two weeks ago after failing to pass legislation to crack down on illegal immigration and to curb domestic spending.

Since then, gas prices have shot up, to more than $3 a gallon in many places. Demonstrations against GOP immigration proposals have continued around the country. A new poll shows President Bush’s approval ratings at new lows – and congressional Republicans’ even lower.

“I don’t see panic setting in yet, but there’s certainly increasing concern when the president is in the 30s (in approval polls) and we’re in the 20s,” said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.

Even Republicans who still believe the GOP will retain control of Congress are resigned to losing many seats.

“There’s not any margin for error here,” said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich. “But I also think things aren’t going to get much worse politically.”

They may not, if only because Republicans’ fortunes have already sunk so low. A recent poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found anti-incumbent sentiment running stronger than at any time since 1994, when Republicans gained control of Congress for the first time in 40 years.

The poll found 41 percent of those surveyed thought that this Congress has accomplished less than its predecessors – the most negative evaluation since 1997.

GOP leaders in the House and the Senate hope to counter that complaint by racking up legislative accomplishments in the coming months. But it won’t be easy because many of the problems before them – such as high gas prices and continuing instability in Iraq – are largely out of their control. Other issues, such as immigration and the budget, divide the Republican Party deeply.

The situation may call for Bush to step in and demand more party unity from Republican lawmakers, who have increasingly kept their distance from the White House as the president’s agenda and poll numbers have flagged.

“The president has to be like Moe Howard: At some point in every ‘Three Stooges’ short, Moe slaps both Curly and Larry and says, ‘Get to work,'” said Bill Whalen, a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. “There’s a window of opportunity to get things done, but the window is getting smaller every day.”