WASHINGTON (AP) _ Republican Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont decided to abandon his party and become an independent, officials said Wednesday, a momentous switch that would end GOP control of the Senate and crimp President Bush's ability to pass his agenda.
Jeffords, a moderate in a party of conservatives, told reporters in the Capitol he had made up his mind about his political future and would fly home to Vermont to make an announcement on Thursday. "I want to go home to my people," he said.
Senators in both parties as well as aides to the longtime Vermont lawmaker said he had told them he would leave the Republicans, become an independent and align himself with the Democrats for organizational purposes.
The move could cost Utah Senator Orrin Hatch the chairmanship of the Senate Judicial Committee.
Republicans, facing the loss of their majority in a 50-50 Senate _ and the committee chairmanships that go with it _ held out faint hope. "Until it's final it's not final," said Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.
Democrats sounded like they thought it was all but final.
"This isn't about a single Senate seat. It's about controlling the legislative agenda ...and it's about the federal judiciary," Sen. Bob Torricelli, D-N.J. told reporters, referring to the fact that the majority party controls the flow of legislation and nominations.
"This is an enormous shift of influence in the federal government."
Several Democratic sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Jeffords might defer the effective date of his switch for a short period. That would enable Republicans to push through Bush's income tax cut, now pending on the Senate floor.
The switch would automatically elevate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota to the post of majority leader. Democrats would regain committee chairmanships they lost in the 1994 elections.
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