DAVID WELNA: I'm David Welna at the Capitol. Democratic leader Pelosi told reporters here yesterday about the early morning phone call she got from the president, in which he saluted her as the first woman poised to become speaker of the House. And she emphasized how much she wants to talk with the president about the war.
Representative NANCY PELOSI (Democrat, California): We didn't talk about Iraq, but we both expressed our wish to work in a bi-partisan way for the benefit of the American people. And I think that nowhere is that more necessary than in ending the problem in Iraq.
WELNA: Pelosi seemed to regard the president's phone call as an opening bid for finding a bi-partisan solution to, as she put it, this catastrophic path the nation is heading down in Iraq. And she made what would soon prove to be a well timed suggestion.
Rep. PELOSI: There has to be a signal of a change of direction on the part of the president. The one good place he could start is a place where not only the Democrats and large numbers of the American people but the voices of the military have spoken out, and that is to change the civilian leadership at the Pentagon.
WELNA: Not an hour had gone by when the president announced at the White House what he called the resignation of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. Pelosi later said she applauded that decision, as did John Warner, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Senator JOHN WARNER (Republican, Virginia; Chair, Arms Services Committee): I think that the president chose wisely. The president recognizes, certainly this election documented the fact, that there's a great deal of concern. Deep concern among the people of the United States with regard to the conflicts both primarily in Iraq but also let us not lose sight of Afghanistan. That's a fairly serious situation.
WELNA: Warner rocked the Republican establishment last month when he declared after visiting Iraq that the situation there was, in his words, drifting sideways. Warner said he was eager for his committee to begin confirmation hearings as soon as possible for the man President Bush chose to succeed Rumsfeld, former CIA director Robert Gates.
Arizona Republican John McCain, a presidential hopeful who's been a sharp critic of Rumsfeld, yesterday said Mr. Bush made the right decision removing the defense Secretary. McCain also distanced himself from the unpopular war in Iraq by criticizing how it's been managed.
Senator JOHN MCCAIN (Republican, Arizona): It's a long list of misjudgments and errors that were made that has cost us enormously in American blood and treasure.
WELNA: Senate Democrats on the Armed Services Committee, for their part, were generally positive yesterday about the Gates nomination for defense secretary. Here's Rhode Island's Jack Reed.
Senator JACK REED (Democrat, Republican): I've gotten to know him over the last several years, and he strikes me as someone who's a pragmatist. He strikes me also as somebody who will listen, particularly to the uniformed services. And I think in that respect he'll be a very pleasant change from Secretary Rumsfeld.
WELNA: The ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, Michigan's Carl Levin, said he remembers well the combative Senate confirmation hearings in 1991, when Gates sought to be the first President Bush's CIA director.
Senator CARL LEVIN (Democrat, Michigan): And I'm going to give it a fair and a fresh look. I know I voted against him back then. I think it had to do in part with his recollection or failure of recollection on Iran Contra. But I think it would be premature for me to try to tell you what my conclusion will be 15 years later, because obviously a lot of time has passed.
WELNA: Levin said he hoped Gates' views have changed and his recollections have become sharper since that last round of confirmation hearings. And even though Levin would share the Armed Services Committee in January, should Democrats become the Senate majority, he said he would not try to delay Gates' confirmation hearings until then.
Democrats yesterday insisted that they'll keep pushing hard in the coming weeks for a change of course in Iraq. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called on President Bush to convene a summit of congressional leaders to address the war.
Senator HARRY REID (Democrat, Nevada): We need to move on and do a better job, have the Iraqis take over their own country as legislated here last year. We have the law of the land today says that the year 2006 is going to be a year of significant transition in Iraq. So that's what the summit is going to be all about.
WELNA: Still, it's not clear such a summit will occur. President Bush made no mention of one, even as he spoke of the need yesterday for bi-partisan cooperation.
DAVID WELNA, NPR News, the Capitol.
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