Republican steamroller forces its agenda on Congress Â

Gleeful new US legislature prepares to implement President Bush's right-wing mandate as old order is overturned Â

Triumphant Republicans are readying a legislative steamroller on Capitol Hill to push through conservative measures favoured by the Bush administration but until this week blocked by the Democrats' control of the Senate.

The order of the hour in the party's high command is "no gloating", in order to preserve what chances exist of bipartisan co-operation with the Democrats.

Privately though, senior Republicans are not hiding their glee at the election outcome, nor their determination to make up for lost time.

From tax cuts to homeland security, to deregulation and a host of blocked conservative judicial nominations, the new Republican leadership in the Senate intends to move as quickly as possible – in some cases as soon as the "lameduck" session, which starts on 12 November and runs until the 108th Congress is installed in January.

The Republican majority of at least 51 seats does not guarantee Senate passage, given the need for 60 votes to close a debate. But it means that the new majority leader, Trent Lott of Mississippi, has the power to decide what legislation comes to the floor, and to prevent discussion of issues that Republicans want to avoid.

No less important is the change of guard at the Senate's committees – arguably the most powerful institutions on Capitol Hill – where Republican majorities take over, and where Republican chairmen will replace Democratic ones.

One change that will create few anxieties either at home or abroad is the promotion of Richard Lugar of Indiana to head the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Mr Lugar is arguably the most respected internationalist in Senate ranks, best known for the Nunn-Lugar programme to dismantle the former Soviet Union's nuclear weapons.

Other changes, however, will dismay liberals – none more so than the prospect of James Inhofe of Oklahoma heading the Environment and Public Works Committee. An arch-conservative, Mr Inhofe has strenuously resisted stricter air-quality standards (which he claims are based on a dishonest rationale) and backs any measure that helps the oil industry.

At the Energy Committee, the new chairman, Pete Domenici of New Mexico, is only marginally more reassuring. Though a moderate on some social issues, he is a tireless defender of the oil industry and a strong advocate of nuclear power.

At the Banking Committee, a champion of business deregulation takes command in the person of Richard Selby, a conservative from Alabama. He replaces Paul Sarbanes, the Maryland Democrat who was prime architect of last summer's Bill that attempted to clean up corporate behaviour and impose higher standards for auditors.

Democrats fear that financial and accounting industry lobbyists will now use their influence with the Bush administration and allies in Congress to water down the Sarbanes reforms. The White House has already cut back on previously agreed funding to strengthen the Securities and Exchange Commission market watchdog agency.

The Republican legislative offensive will start in the leftover session of the old Congress, where the party already has a Senate majority because Senator Jim Talent of Missouri, who won his seat from the Democrats on Tuesday, will take his seat at once.

Top of the agenda is the stalled Bill to set up a cabinet Department of Homeland Security, obstructed by Democrats resisting new hire-and-fire powers for the President. Mr Bush will also seek to ram through appointments of conservative judges.

In the new Congress, however, the top priority will be reviving the flagging economy. Mr Bush wants his 10-year, $1,300bn (£800bn) tax-cut programme to be definitively enacted, coupled with pro-business investment tax reductions, and a permanent repeal of the estate tax (the US equivalent of death duties).

The administration is pressing for a terrorism insurance Bill that would give billions of dollars of federal backing to insurers facing claims from future terrorist attacks. It would also ban punitive damages stemming from terrorism-related lawsuits.

In social policy, the Republicans want to stiffen welfare legislation with stricter work requirement provisions. They will also seek a ban on late-term "partial birth" abortions, and on human cloning.

The fiercest battles, however, will come in the energy field. Armed with their majorities, Republicans want to force through a comprehensive energy Bill that would open up the Arctic Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling, and boost the nuclear power industry.