Green light for the president: the nation takes a turn: the midterm elections put Republicans in the driver's seat, on the road toward dramatic change.

• Author: Vilbig, Peter
• Position: National

WASHINGTON -- With the sweeping election victory that brought both houses of Congress under Republican dominance, President Bush finally gained the power to set the nation's agenda.

The new math in Congress is likely to break a logjam that blocked many of Bush's plans during the months of Democratic control of the Senate. The reduced obstacles will help the President get his way on several major issues:

* Creating a Department of Homeland Security;

* Making some temporary tax cuts permanent;

* Appointing a greater number of more-conservative federal judges, who would serve for life;

* Encouraging oil and gas drilling in Alaska and elsewhere.

It is a power that was denied to Bush for much of his term until now. "The ability the Democrats had to delay action was a major stumbling block for Bush," says Norman Ornstein, a scholar at a Washington think tank, the American Enterprise Institute.

THE BUSH AGENDA

But the Republican victory doesn't give unlimited power to the President. Under the Senate's rules, much legislation must have a 60 percent majority before it is allowed on the Senate floor for a vote. As a result, the President will be forced to compromise with Democrats to get aspects of his "compassionate conservative" agenda passed.

White House aides say the President's first priority will be to pass a bill, stalled before the election, that would create a new Cabinet-level Homeland Security Department, responsible for guarding against domestic terrorist attacks. The Democratic-controlled Senate had fought Bush over his proposal to give himself broad hiring-and-firing authority over its workers.

But aides say Bush will also press hard for other cherished parts of his agenda. The President will soon ask the Congress to extend the massive tax cut passed during his first year in office beyond its current expiration date of 2010.

A LEGACY IN THE COURTS

In addition, Bush plans to use the newly friendly Senate to win approval for a list of conservative judges he has nominated for lifetime posts on the federal courts. The nominations had been stalled by Democratic Senators, largely on ideological grounds. Under the Constitution, the Senate has the sole power to approve presidential appointments of judges.

And with rumors of possible retirements from the Supreme Court in the next two years, Bush might even have the chance to nominate more conservatives to the nation's highest court.

The Bush administration will likely breathe new life into its...