By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The "do-nothing" U.S. Congress may actually be starting to do things.
One-hundred days into the Republican takeover of Capitol Hill, even some hard-bitten politicians are musing hopefully over the prospect of getting work done in an institution that is now synonymous with gridlock and a frequent source of nationwide angst and ire over the state of American politics.
Back-to-back successes on bipartisan initiatives, one overhauling parts of the Medicare health program, and one giving Congress a say in any Iran nuclear deal reached by the Obama administration, have lawmakers optimistic that gridlock may not be a permanent condition, after all.
Ending years of partisan trench warfare and polarization will not be easy, with tough tests coming in months ahead on highway funding, trade, cyber-security, confirming a new attorney general and the federal budget and debt ceiling. But the political dynamic is shifting, said some lawmakers.
The economy is growing and joblessness is falling. The federal budget deficit is shrinking. Taken together, these trends may be easing pressure on Republican House Speaker John Boehner to heed the demands of small-government Tea Party activists, such as Senator Ted Cruz, who have in past years fomented government shutdown brinkmanship.
Moreover, now that Republicans hold the keys to both the House and Senate for the first time in eight years, they know that their ability to capture the White House in 2016 could, in part, be linked to how well they perform in Congress now.
"We have to show people we can govern and that means finding common ground where we can find it," Boehner said on Tuesday.
Of course, Congress' standing with voters still may have a way to go. Claire Ingram, visiting Washington from Weston, Connecticut, told Reuters on Wednesday: "It's kind of sad when it's a big deal that two parties can agree on something and send it to the president. It's sad that it's not more typical."
Speaker Boehner spent months collaborating with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on a Medicare "doc fix" bill that sailed through the House last month, though it will increase the federal budget deficit. The Senate approved the measure on Tuesday, permanently stabilizing Medicare physician payments.
Another House-passed bill, to fight domestic human trafficking, was poised to speed through the Senate before Democrats realized Republicans had put controversial anti-abortion language into it.
Reflecting on the two bills, Senator Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate said: "There was a bipartisan effort from the start."
Durbin said lawmakers had "gone beyond" divisive debates that ensnared Congress early this year, such as the Keystone oil pipeline from Canada, and threatening to shut down the Department of Homeland Security unless President Barack Obama's new immigration executive orders were blocked.
On the Iran deal bill, Durbin noted Congress may have been motivated by a bipartisan desire to protect the legislative branch's oversight of international deals.
"But it's more than that," he said, noting that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, a Republican, and Senator Ben Cardin, the senior committee Democrat, made "an extraordinary effort" at bipartisanship.
Throughout the process, the two were in close contact with the Democratic White House.
To many, a bit of Republican and Democratic comity may not sound that earth-shaking. Congress's main job is to debate and pass legislation. But the Senate in recent years has often been tied in knots by minority-party members staging endless debates known as filibusters aimed at killing bills.
At the same time, the House of Representatives has largely been consumed with passing measures with little chance of Senate approval, meant chiefly as fodder for campaign attack ads.
"People like functioning better than fighting at this point. And I'll put myself in that category," said newly elected Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito.
Even with a handful of successes, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham warned: "Don't read too much" into them.
Amid all the clamor in Congress over legislation ranging from thorny international affairs to domestic budget plans, senators took time out for a rare bipartisan lunch on Wednesday.
Asked what would happen there, Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, a staunch conservative, said: "We're gonna make nice. I'm sure we will."