NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Capitol Hill, where Dick Cheney visited Republican lawmakers to update them on the Bush transition plans. But if Cheney was going through what may have appeared as something just short a victory lap, Republicans faced potential difficulty on another front. The victory of Maria Cantwell in Washington means that the new Senate will be split down the middle -- 50 Democrats, 50 Republicans. Though Cheney, should he become vice president, would break the tie, giving the GOP nominal control, Democrats are insisting on a power-sharing arrangement -- everything from a better ratio of committee members to potential control of some committees.
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