washingtonpost.com
GOP Agenda Shifts as Political Trials Grow
As Congress returns from its August recess today, Republicans face a far more troubling political landscape than the one they left a month ago, according to lawmakers in both parties.
Gasoline prices have skyrocketed, the Bush administration is being widely criticized for its handling of Hurricane Katrina, and as the war in Iraq grows increasingly unpopular, the president's approval ratings have sunk to an all-time low. Further complicating the picture is a rare double vacancy on the Supreme Court, which could trigger sniping between the GOP's center and right wing if not deftly handled.
"We're going to have a busy time," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).
As the pressure on Republicans builds, Democrats are sounding emboldened. One sign of GOP unease: The Senate was supposed to vote this week on whether to permanently repeal the estate tax, but Frist said yesterday that the bill will be temporarily shelved. The announcement came two hours after Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) called for Republicans to back off tax cuts in the wake of the Katrina tragedy. "Not now, for heaven's sake," Reid said.
Some conservatives worry that Bush has given Democrats an opening by naming John G. Roberts Jr. to succeed Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who died Saturday night. Roberts had been nominated to succeed the retiring Sandra Day O'Connor, and that confirmation process was scheduled to start today. Because Rehnquist was a solid conservative and O'Connor a centrist, the argument goes, liberals will fight much harder to keep a conservative -- such as Roberts -- from getting the O'Connor seat, whereas the philosophy of Rehnquist's successor is less vital to them.
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