Never mind the Democrats: it’s those Capitol Hill Republicans you need to watch out for. That was the conclusion of frustrated Bush administration officials as they blamed the ineptitude of the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives for trying and failing to rush through the Vietnam trade bill on Monday.

As one frustrated official put it on Wednesday: “The bottom line is that we can’t blame this one on the Democrats.” While some Democrats have been warning that they will scrutinise trade agreements much more closely when they take over the House and Senate in January, the Democrat vote on Monday divided almost evenly for and against – more favourable than for many trade bills. It was the failure of some Republicans to turn up, along with 66 who voted against, that did for the bill. Some speculated that the votes against might have reflected congressional Rep-ublican resentment towards the White House after the heavy defeats of the mid-term elections.