With the election of [[George W. Bush]] (son of former president George H. W. Bush) in an extremely close 2000 election, the Republican party controlled both the presidency and both houses of Congress for the first time since 1952. However, after [[Vermont]] Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party to become an independent aligned with the Democrats in June 2001, Republicans lost control of the Senate by a single seat. | With the election of [[George W. Bush]] (son of former president George H. W. Bush) in an extremely close 2000 election, the Republican party controlled both the presidency and both houses of Congress for the first time since 1952. However, after [[Vermont]] Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party to become an independent aligned with the Democrats in June 2001, Republicans lost control of the Senate by a single seat. |