CONGRESS Stranded Senators in poor spirits

They have reached a stalemate over Arctic drilling and other policy matters.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- What Christmas cheer?
Capitol Hill may be decked out with festive lights and an impressive tree. But under the big dome, a sour mood has settled over a Senate stuck in session with nothing but legislative stalemates standing between lawmakers and their holiday recess.
"Merry Fristmas," congressional aides muttered as they passed each other in the chilly hallways, taking a sullen dig at Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.
For his part, Frist blamed the Democrats and their "childish antics" for the delay -- three times in one press conference. For a while Wednesday, his spokesman sported a tie bearing an image of The Grinch (who stole Christmas).
Weighty policy matters hang in limbo on the eve of a midterm election year. A spending bill containing money for the military and Gulf Coast hurricane recovery also now includes a provision to allow Arctic oil drilling -- a recent addition by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, that has infuriated senators of both parties.
The move would force lawmakers to vote for the package or be accused of withholding support for U.S. troops and storm victims.
"I hope the good Lord will help me keep my temper," Stevens, the one wearing the Incredible Hulk necktie, said just before Democrats and two Republicans blocked a vote on the package.
Tossing a glance across the aisle at Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who had denounced the drilling measure, Stevens grumbled, "I asked for his apology once; I wouldn't accept it now."
Animosity
Stevens then threatened to keep the Senate in session through New Year's Day until the matter is settled. It wouldn't be the first time he rang in a new year on the Senate floor, he said.
Some lawmakers said they were outraged as much by Stevens' procedural hardball as by the prospect of oil and gas exploration in the Arctic.
"Shame!" scolded the dean of the Senate, Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.
Bah humbug, indeed.
The poor humor in the Senate, some aides predicted, was nothing compared with what's expected from the House if all 435 members are called back into session to vote on Senate changes to legislation upon which they've already acted.
Earlier this week, House members stampeded for their flights home after an all-night session in which they completed action on the matters before them.
Back on the Senate side, talk of vacation plans faded. Stevens, for one, said he had already canceled his flight home.