While the presidency is not up for grabs until 2008, the congressional majorities could shift in the November 2006 elections, when all 435 members of the House of Representatives and one-third of the 100-seat Senate are up for reelection.
The Republicans currently hold comfortable majorities in both chambers, but are facing challenges unknown since Bush took over the White House in January 2001.
'If we were to lose seats in either the House or the Senate in 2006, obviously it becomes more difficult for the White House to move the president's agenda,' Republican Senator John Thune told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Bush's slumping approval ratings, ethics problems that opposition Democrats call a 'culture of corruption,' the war in Iraq and negative views on the direction of the country are all factors that could lead to leadership fatigue in 2006.
Despite divisions among Democrats over the war in Iraq, the opposition party is trying to cash in on the Republican inertia.
'I think we have a tailwind, given the problems the president has had and with regard to issues that are on the minds of voters, but victory will not fall in our laps,' Senator Barack Obama, one of the rising Democratic political stars, said.
Senator Edward Kennedy, one of the most prominent Democrats, faults the Republicans for not having a 'real plan' either on domestic policy or, more importantly, on Iraq - which most lawmakers identify as the biggest issue heading into the election year.
'The American people are looking for a vision in terms of a foreign policy and domestic policy,' Kennedy told dpa.
Kennedy is convinced that only the Democrats have such a vision and it would translate into gains in 2006.
When Bush took office in 2001, he worked with an evenly divided Senate. Republicans held only a 221 to 212 advantage over the opposition Democrats in the House.
But the advantage increased after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when Bush's approval ratings soared to 90 per cent - more than twice their current level.
Republicans rode their leader's coattails to two consecutive election successes. They now hold a 55 to 44 advantage in the Senate, with one independent siding with the Democrats, and a 232 to 202 edge in the House, the largest Republican majority since 1949.
But Bush's approval rating is now well below 40 per cent, and even Republicans recognize the problem.
'Bush is not there any more to shield them,' said U.S. Representative Barney Frank, a Democrat. 'He certainly is not the dominant figure he was in the legislature in the first four years.'
Democrats have tried to shine the spotlight on the Republicans' ethics problems, hoping that the issue will resonate with the public. 'The Republicans have made a major industry out of (corruption),' Frank said.
The ethics problems culminated in November, when Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff I. Lewis Libby was indicted for lying to a grand jury and obstructing its work. The ongoing investigation seeks to determine if anybody in the White House knowingly leaked the identity of a covert CIA operative to the press.
But the ethics troubles do not begin or end with Libby. Bush's top political adviser Karl Rove is also entangled in the CIA leak case, and prominent Republicans in Congress are in hot water. <!--page-->
Representative Tom DeLay, often called the most powerful man in Congress, had to resign his post as House Majority Leader after he was indicted for money laundering.
Federal authorities are investigating Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for a questionable stock transaction.
Another Republican lawmaker, Randy 'Duke' Cunningham of California, resigned this month after admitting he took at least 2.4 million dollars in bribes for funnelling defence contracts to a supporter.
DeLay says such matters don't decide elections. He's certain that Republicans are 'absolutely' in a position to expand their majorities.
'The Democrats have nothing,' DeLay told dpa. 'They tried this culture of corruption, which the American people don't even care =about, and they have to defend more seats than we do. We'll be fine.'
While most Democrats predicted gains, the majority of Republicans interviewed for this report said it is too early to tell what would happen.
'A year is a lifetime in politics,' said Republican Senator John McCain.
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