Jubilant Democrats prepared to elect Representative Nancy Pelosi as the first women to run the House of Representatives as the party takes control of both chambers of Congress for the first time in 12 years.
With power restored, House Democrats planned quick action on legislative priorities that included boosting both the minimum wage and stem cell research. Democrats also said they would pressure President George W. Bush to bring the troops home from Iraq.
The new Congress was to convene at noon yesterday, with Democrats still adjusting to the trappings of power, while Republicans grappled with their new role in the minority.
Pelosi, taking over as House speaker, promised immediate steps to ban gifts from lobbyists and to clamp down on travel funded by private interests.
Democrats also planned to vote next week to raise the federal minimum wage, increase federal support for stem cell research and allow the government to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices on prescription drugs for Medicare recipients.
On the other side of the Capitol, Nevada Democrat Harry Reid -- a soft-spoken but tough inside player -- was to take the reins of the notoriously unwieldy Senate. He invited both Democrats and Republicans to a rare closed-door conference yesterday in the Old Senate Chamber in hopes of setting a bipartisan mood after years of political rancor.
The Democratic-led Congress also opens a new chapter in the presidency of Bush, who faces divided government as he cements his legacy in his final two years in the White House.
He said on Wednesday that he soon would propose a five-year plan to balance the budget, and he challenged Democrats to avoid passing "bills that are simply political" statements.
"There is nothing political about finding a policy to end the war in Iraq, raising the minimum wage, achieving energy independence or helping kids afford college" Reid shot back.
"In fact, politics has prevented progress on these issues for too many years," added Reid, who was to become the new Senate majority leader.
Pelosi was to commence yesterday with a prayer service at a Catholic church on Capitol Hill before being sworn in as speaker in the afternoon by Democratic Representative John Dingell, the longest serving member of the House. Pelosi then was to address the House -- and the US -- in a speech carried live on television.
Dingell administered the same oath to former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich, 12 years ago when Republicans seized the House after 40 years of Democratic control -- and he is set to get back his gavel as the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
House Democrats promise speedy passage of the first six bills on their agenda and a series of stiffer ethics rules.
The first steps would take place by early evening yesterday, and consist of several measures crafted in response to the ethics scandals that weakened Republicans in last fall's elections.
In addition to expanding restrictions on privately financed trips enjoyed by lawmakers, House Democrats said they would prohibit travel on corporate jets. A vote will come today to require greater disclosure of "earmarks," the pet projects inserted into legislation at the behest of individual lawmakers.
Current rules prohibit congressional travel paid for by lobbyists or foreign governments and violations of the existing restrictions played heavily in the influence-peddling scandal involving Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
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