The first session of the 110th Congress started with beaming Democrats promising they would end the war in Iraq and significantly change the nation’s domestic policies. But Democrats are less enthusiastic now than they were in January after being stymied by President Bush and congressional Republicans on the war, taxes and healthcare.

Democrats note that several items on their “Six in ’06” campaign pledge were signed into law.

Yet they acknowledge that they fell short on several big-ticket items. Getting a Democrat in the White House, they say, will change that.

The congressional session will be remembered for many events, including the arrest of Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), the legislative battles on Iraq and the deaths of five House members and one senator. Ethics controversies, which dominated the 109th Congress, continued to emerge in 2007 as Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) was indicted while the FBI raided the homes and businesses of a few GOP members.

The following is a rundown of the major political events of the first session of the 110th Congress:

January

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) open up the 110th Congress
• Pelosi and Reid urge President Bush not to add troops in Iraq
• Bush says he will send 21,500 new troops to Iraq in address to the nation
• House passes minimum wage bill, stem cell measure and other legislation as part of its “Six in ’06” campaign theme

February

• Pelosi military plane controversy intensifies; White House defends her
• Rep. Charles Norwood (R-Ga.) dies
• Reid says Senate will vote on House Iraq measure over the weekend, sending White House hopefuls scrambling to change their schedules
• House passes resolution disapproving of the troop surge; only 17 Republicans approve measure
• Senate follows suit but motion to vote falls short
• Senate Democrats announce effort to deauthorize war, but measure goes nowhere
• Vice President Cheney and Pelosi exchange salvos on Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) Iraq plan

March

• Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) survives bid to oust him as chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
• Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) apologizes, admits that he contacted New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias about ongoing probe before Iglesias was ousted
• Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) later admits she called Iglesias as well
• Congress investigates healthcare for veterans amid Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandal
• Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, is found guilty
• Democrats struggle for unity on Iraq supplemental bill
• Amid escalating attorney-firings controversy, pressure builds on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign
• Democrats want White House aide Karl Rove to testify on U.S. attorney scandal
• Aide to Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) arrested for bringing gun into congressional building; charges subsequently dropped
• House and Senate pass Iraq supplemental bills with strings attached; Bush vows to veto

April

• GOP criticizes Pelosi for her trip to Syria
• Senate passes stem cell bill; Bush subsequently vetoes it
• Shooting kills dozens at Virginia Tech; Democrats carefully draft gun control measure that eventually gets the support of the National Rifle Association
• Gonzales appears before Senate panel as more Democrats call for his resignation
• FBI raids house of Reps. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) and business of Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.)
• Reid says Iraq war is “lost”
• Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Calif.) dies
• Dow hits 13,000; gas hits $3 per gallon

May

• Bush vetoes Iraq supplemental bill
• GOP centrists challenge Bush on Iraq at contentious White House meeting
• Former Deputy Attorney General James Comey testifies on White House officials — including Gonzales at the time — urging hospital bed-ridden Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2004 to certify National Security Agency’s surveillance program
• Senators strike deal on immigration reform
• Murtha berates Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) over earmark on the House floor; later apologizes
• House and Senate pass budget package
• Democrats bend, strip timelines on Iraq bill; most Democrats, including Pelosi, vote no
• House passes lobbying reform bill

June

• Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) is indicted
• Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.) dies
• Libby sentenced to two and a half years in prison
• Immigration bill falters in the Senate
• Senate no-confidence motion on Gonzales falls short
• House grinds to a halt over earmarks dispute

July

• Bush commutes Libby’s sentence
• Sens. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Domenici express major misgivings about the Iraq war
• Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) apologizes after his name shows up on the phone list of the “D.C. Madam”
• House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) calls wavering GOP senators on Iraq “wimps”
• Senate Democrats hold all-night debate on Iraq
• Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) apologizes for confronting Capitol Police officer
• Congress passes 9/11 Commission’s recommendations bill
• FBI raids Sen. Ted Stevens’s (R-Alaska) home
• Lobbying reform bill is approved by Congress

August

• Congress passes interim bill updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) despite lack of support among Democratic leaders
• After losing contentious vote, GOP cries foul and investigation is launched into the so-called stolen vote
• Pelosi vows to alter new FISA law
• Rove surprisingly announces he will leave White House
• Reps. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) and Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) say they will not seek reelection
• Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) charged with assault at Dulles airport
• Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) changes his position on Iraq, says he no longer supports a timetable for troop withdrawal
• Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) bucks Bush on Iraq
• June arrest of Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) in airport bathroom becomes public; Craig maintains innocence despite guilty plea
• Gonzales announces his resignation

September

• Craig says he is not gay and announces imminent retirement
• Craig reconsiders retirement, but says he will not seek reelection in 2008
• Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio) dies
• Gen. David Petraeus testifies to House and Senate as MoveOn ad on Iraq commander triggers uproar
• Democrats chastise Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) for his remarks regarding the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
• National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.) and Boehner clash over NRCC’s performance, staffing
• Congress passes State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill; Bush threatens veto

October

• Bush vetoes SCHIP bill
• Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-Va.) dies
• Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) apologizes for saying U.S. troops are being sent to Iraq “to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement” on House floor
• Measure on Armenian genocide splits House Democrats as floor vote is canceled

November

• Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) keep attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey’s nomination alive
• Congress overrides Bush veto on Water Resources Development Act; House passes Peru trade bill
• Senate approves Mukasey nomination, 53-40
• Farm bill stalls in the Senate
• Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) stuns Capitol Hill by announcing his retirement
• Murtha says troop surge is working

December

• Bush administration, Congress scramble to address sub-prime mortgage crisis
• Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) defeats Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) for No. 3 Senate GOP leadership post
• House passes energy bill
• Senate Democrats back off on pay-as-you-go budgetary rules to pass Alternative Minimum Tax patch; House Democrats balk at lack of offsets
• House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) threatens to pull earmarks in spending legislation in the face of White House opposition to omnibus’s price tag
• Democrats cave on spending, lose showdown with Bush, retain earmarks in omnibus package
• Rep. Julia Carson (D-Ind.) dies
• Senate passes farm bill
• Congress passes scaled-back energy bill
• Congress passes AMT patch, omnibus and adjourns for the year

Arie Dekker contributed to this article.