With the immigration bill dead, troop-withdrawal deadlines vetoed and other high-profile initiatives stalled, Democratic leaders closed six months in control of Congress mired in low approval ratings and plotting a legislative blitz on an issue they once tried to escape: Iraq.Defeated last month on a war funding bill, Democratic leaders had hoped to spend June delivering on prominent domestic issues, such as homeland security, ethics rules and immigration. Instead, they limped out of Washington for a week-long Fourth of July break with few successes to boast about while complaining bitterly of Republican tactics that had stymied their higher-profile efforts.
"Because of the obstructionism of the Republicans in the United States Senate, I'm not happy with Congress either," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
On Thursday alone, parliamentary trench warfare helped torpedo President Bush's immigration bill. Hours later, two of the same warriors -- Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) -- blocked Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) as he tried to finish work on ethics legislation and a bill instituting most of the homeland security recommendations of the blue-ribbon committee that studied the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
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