Meanwhile, Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi spoke after meeting with President Bush.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): “It is very exciting to be the first woman speaker of the House, God willing if my colleagues support that in another few days. And again, as speaker, I understand my responsibility: speaker of the House, of all the House, not just the Democrats, and a responsibility to work with the administration to make progress. We made history, and we need to make progress. And I am looking forward to working with the president to do just that.”

Pelosi’s meeting with the president comes as Democrats are already preparing their list of committee chairs. Democratic Party officials said Thursday Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut will chair the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Lieberman won as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont.