-Caveat Lector- Tuesday May 22 9:35 PM ET Sen. Jeffords to Say if He Will Quit Republicans By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont said he will announce on Wednesday whether he will drop out of the Republican Party, a move that would give Democrats control of the now evenly divided U.S. Senate for the first time in seven years. ``The sentiment definitely is that he (Jeffords) will leave,'' said a senior Senate Republican aide. ``We're hopeful and optimistic,'' said a senior Democratic aide, adding that Senate Democratic Whip Harry Reid of Nevada had been privately courting Jeffords for weeks. Sources familiar with the situation said President Bush (news - web sites) and Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites), who met with the 67- year-old senator at the White House on Tuesday, urged Jeffords not to switch parties but received no assurances. ``I will be making an announcement tomorrow in Washington about what I'm doing,'' Jeffords told reporters outside the Senate chamber later on Tuesday. Jeffords has upset Republicans a number of times in recent months largely for criticizing Bush's proposed $1.6 trillion tax cut as too big and by complaining the president failed to propose enough money for education. If Jeffords dropped out of the Republican Party, it would send a political shock wave through the nation's capital since it would suddenly give Democrats control of the chamber and elevate Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota from Senate minority to majority leader. Once in power, Democrats would set the legislative agenda in the Senate, and that could hurt efforts by Bush to get his own agenda enacted. Even if Jeffords became an independent, Democrats would still control the chamber, 50-49. Republicans could keep committee chairmanships if Jeffords voted with them in organizational meetings. But he would have little, if any, incentive to do so, and could end up a chairman in a Democratic-led Senate if he sided with a new Democratic majority. One likely spot would be as chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. He now chairs the Health, Education and Labor Committee in the Republican-led Senate. Senate Democratic Whip Reid is now ranking Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee. But Democratic sources said Reid has agreed to step aside to give Jeffords the chairmanship if he became a Democrat. The Senate is now split between 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats, with Cheney, a Republican, having the tie-breaking vote. There were conflicting reports late Tuesday about Jeffords's plans. ABC News quoted Republican sources as saying Jeffords told them he planned to leave the Republican Party, but they did not know if he would become a Democrat or an independent. Yet shortly after Jeffords told reporters about his intention to make an announcement Wednesday, Sen. Arlen Specter (news - bio - voting record), a Pennsylvania Republican, said based on his own talks with Jeffords he expected the three-term Vermont Republican to stay in the party fold. ``He indicated to me that he is not going to change parties,'' Specter said. On Capitol Hill, Democratic and Republican senators, voting late into the night on a tax bill, told reporters they did not know what Jeffords would ultimately do. Senate Assistant Republican Leader Don Nickles of Oklahoma said, ``I expect he's going to stay with us. I'd be more than disappointed if he switched. I've talked to him a couple of times and I know he's weighing it.'' On Monday, Jeffords' office refused to confirm or deny a report that Democrats had twice offered Jeffords committee chairmanships in a failed effort to get him to switch parties. Jeffords press secretary Erik Smulson said in a statement: ''Regardless of party label, Senator Jeffords will continue to do what is best for Vermont and the nation.'' ANOMALOUS IMAGES AND UFO FILES http://www.anomalous-images.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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