A HOUSE DIVIDED.

• Author: Berke, Richard L.

The 107th Congress arrives to work split down the middle. What can members do besides disagree?

You can't slice the White House in half, even if the presidential vote is essentially a tie. But there's a place just down the street that reflects the nation's personality even when it's split. It's called Congress.

Congress now officially belongs to the Republicans, who seem at a glance to hold all the cards. For the first time in 48 years, they control both the Senate and the House of Representatives while one of their own is about to take the oath as President. But in both houses, the GOP holds on with all the firmness of a hanging chad. So Republican lawmakers will be faced with a stark choice: fight for big issues, or settle for small accomplishments.

In the Senate, 50 Republicans face 50 Democrats. Just one thing gives the Republicans the control that lets them set the agenda: The Vice President serves as Senate President and votes in case of a tie. The House of Representatives comprises 221 Republicans, 212 Democrats, and 2 Independents. So it only takes four defections on a vote for the Republican majority to crumble.

If Republicans in Congress join the President to push the party's agenda aggressively, they could be courting trouble, because the Democrats have enough power in the House and Senate to block many initiatives.

Even so, President-elect Bush has already drawn pressure from conservatives in his party who do not want him to shrink from their wish list: vast tax cuts, a new missile-defense system, and swift action to curb abortion and gay rights.

PULL FROM THE RIGHT

Gary Bauer, a conservative who ran for the Republican presidential nomination, derides as "nervous Nellies" the timid loyalists who do not want Bush to move too fast on a conservative agenda. Die-hard Republicans like Representative Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) chime in that their party's sweep of the White House and Congress, no matter how narrow, justifies an aggressive approach.

The risk is that the harder the Republicans and the new administration press forward on these divisive issues, the more likely there will be congressional gridlock--with few substantive bills getting passed.

Another option would be for the Republicans to find common ground with Democrats. For example, they could join forces on reforming education, making modest improvements in the health-care system, and reducing the inheritance tax. In some ways, that course may be easier, because the Senate lost a...