Economy, war are top issues as House returns

House Democrats are planning a vote the following week on overriding Bush's second veto of legislation to expand the federal child health insurance program. The bill passed by a veto-proof margin in the Senate but enough Republicans in the House have stuck with Bush to stop an override there.

Such legislative exercises had numerous precedents in 2007, when presidential vetoes - or veto threats - and Republican filibusters in the Senate blocked Democratic-proposed legislation or forced major changes.

Democrats claimed several successes in their first year in power, including raising the minimum wage, boosting fuel mileage standards for cars and small trucks, increasing security at seaports and airports, reducing student loan interest rates and requiring stricter mental health checks for gun purchases.

But the constant battles over domestic spending and the Democrats' futile efforts to curtail US military involvement in Iraq drove public approval ratings of Congress to new lows.

"We share the frustration of the American people and the desire to bring about change," said Senate majority leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, stressing that progress in the new year "depends on whether Bush Republicans in Congress will choose to work with us or will continue to work against us."

Republicans see it differently. House minority leader John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, said his party succeeded in 2007 in defining Democrats as big-government tax-and-spenders. He said the GOP "will continue to oppose these job-killing policies, and will press for reforms that will encourage economic growth and prosperity."

The Senate returns Jan. 22 to deal with a particularly divisive issue, renewal of a six-month law defining electronic surveillance powers. The law is due to expire Feb. 1. The House passed a version in November but it has a veto threat hanging over it. Reid has suggested extending the existing law for a month.