Congress' approval at 1-year high in poll

WASHINGTON — Public approval for Congress is at its highest level in a year as Democrats mark 100 days in power and step up their confrontation with President Bush over his handling of the Iraq war, the issue that overshadows all others.

Yet for all their eagerness to challenge Bush, congressional Democrats so far have failed to attract significant support among independents, a group that helped propel them to power in last fall's elections and now appears more strongly opposed to the war than the general public.

The findings from an AP-Ipsos nationwide poll provide a snapshot of public sentiment in the days after the House and Senate triggered a series of veto threats from the president by passing separate bills that provide funds for the war, yet also call for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops.

Overall approval for Congress is 40 percent. The survey shows Bush's approval ratings remain in the mid-30 percent range, that a striking 39 percent strongly disapproves of his handling of foreign policy and the war on terror, and that the public has scant hopes that the president and Congress can work together to solve the country's problems.

"The Democrats are back," Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the first woman speaker in history, had exulted on Jan. 3 as her party claimed control for the first time in more than a decade.

While the Iraq war has dominated the days since then, Democrats also quickly showcased their domestic priorities and used their power to convene hearings — and issue subpoenas — to embarrass the administration.

Valerie Plame, the former CIA operative, was the star witness at a mid-March House hearing. Before a bank of television cameras, she testified that senior officials at the White House and State Department had "carelessly and recklessly" blown her cover to discredit her diplomat-husband in a controversy related to the Iraq war.

Already, though, the limits on the new majority's power are evident.

The minimum wage bill is becalmed as Republicans demand tax cuts as the price for passage.

And Bush has threatened to veto a measure to expand the criteria for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The House passed the bill earlier in the year, and Senate debate is scheduled for this week.

Pelosi pointed to a fast start at a news conference shortly before lawmakers left the Capitol for a two-week break.