WASHINGTON, 10 November 2006 — Democrats won a 51st seat in the Senate and regained total control of Congress after 12 years of near-domination by the Republican Party. The shift dramatically alters the government’s balance of power, leaving President Bush without GOP congressional control to drive his legislative agenda.

In a Rose Garden appearance yesterday, Bush said he was “open to any idea or suggestion” on the Iraq war, one of the prime reasons the Republicans lost the control of Congress. “I’m open to any idea or suggestion that will help us achieve our goals of defeating the terrorists and ensuring that Iraq’s democratic government succeeds,” Bush said.

But he said the United States has a responsibility to give support to the 152,000 US troops in Iraq — an indirect challenge to those Democrats who have talked about cutting off funding for the Iraq mission. “Whatever party you come from, we all have a responsibility to ensure that these troops have the resources and support they need to prevail,” Bush said. It was not clear whether Bush and the Democrats were genuinely prepared to work together to change the course in Iraq. Analysts say both parties have greater incentives to reach accommodation than at any time since Bush was elected in 2000.

Democrats completed their congressional sweep Wednesday evening by ousting Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia, the last of six GOP incumbents to lose re-election bids in a midterm election marked by deep dissatisfaction with the president and the war in Iraq.

The election results could benefit backers of wide-ranging changes to US immigration laws, one of the few areas Bush differed with House Republicans and sided with a bipartisan Senate approach.

Among the possible clashes between Bush and the new Congress is the question of whether to permit federal funding for research involving new lines of embryonic stem cells. Bush used his only veto this year to block such legislation, which passed both houses comfortably but not with the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.

And there will be investigations and hearings, especially into the conduct of the war in Iraq and the huge financial waste by contractors there and elsewhere.

Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Missouri, said the first move he will make as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee will be the reestablishment of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, dropped by Republicans when they took the majority.

Wednesday’s biggest surprise, however, was the announcement of the removal of Rumsfeld — which stunned Washington, because Bush had stubbornly resisted calls to dump his Pentagon chief for years despite rising pressure from within his own party and the ranks of retired generals. Last week, the Pentagon was shaken by an unreported but significant incident: the Armed Forces publications’ editorials, including The Army Times, called for the resignation of Rumsfeld.

A contrite Bush said Wednesday that he shared “a large part” of the responsibility for the “thumping” suffered by Republicans on Election Day.