James Jeffords' expected defection from the Republican Party leads to a Democratic majority in the Senate, environmental regulations, education, a proposed income tax cut and the makeup of the U.S.

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Former Vermont U.S. Sen. James Jeffords, who in 2001 tipped control of the Senate when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent, died Monday. He was 80. Jeffords died in ...

Sen. James Jeffords announced Thursday his decision to leave the Republican Party and become an independent, a move that will give Democrats control of the Senate for the first time since 1994. "In ...

The obituaries for former Vermont Sen. James Jeffords, who died earlier this week, uniformly began by referencing his decision in 2001 to bolt the Republican Party, thus shifting the Senate majority ...

The defection of Jim Jeffords may be remembered as one of the most successful covert operations in American political history, with Democratic leader Tom Daschle as the mastermind and Jeffords as the ...

W A S H I N G T O N, May 24 -- Democrats will regain control of the Senate following Vermont Sen. James Jeffords' decision to abandon the Republican Party and become an independent. Ending days of ...

BURLINGTON, Vt. — James Merrill Jeffords, who was a Republican congressman and senator before breaking with his party in 2001, has died. He was 80. Jeffords, the last Republican to hold federal office ...

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Former Vermont U.S. Sen. James Jeffords, who in 2001 tipped control of the Senate when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent, died Monday. He was 80. Jeffords died in ...

Why we chose him: This quiet Republican Senator jumped ship from the GOP this week to become an independent, causing perhaps the most significant mid-term shakeup in the history of Capitol Hill. Jim ...

Jim Jeffords never was one to vote the Republican Party line. But the idea he might bolt the GOP entirely was never given much thought until after his decisive Senate vote last month against President ...

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Former Vermont U.S. Sen. James Jeffords, who in 2001 tipped control of the Senate when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent, died Monday. He was 80. Jeffords died in ...