In 1982, Jim Matheson was a fresh-faced senior at Harvard, his mind focused on sports. His career path was set. He would go from WHRB broadcaster to professional sports announcer, hopefully calling basketball or football games. Eighteen years later, Matheson is not a sportscaster. But he is back at Harvard, sitting on the top floor of the Taubman building, learning the ropes as a new member of the U.S. Congress from Utah's 2nd district.

"Circumstances just came together," he says.

Running Wednesday through Saturday of this past week, an orientation for more than 40 new members of the incoming U.S. Congress was held at the Kennedy School of Government. Friday's panel, which examined relations between the White House and Congress, ostensibly sought to provide a primer on how first-year representatives can get along with the White House.

What should Matheson, a Democrat, expect from the Bush White House? What courtesies are usually given? How should he work with cabinet agencies and political officials to publicize his priorities? Who sets the agenda, the President or the Congress?

But the panel only turned into a miniature version of what is likely to transpire in the House and Senate chamber next year.

The Democrats in attendance wanted to know how much authority they would have to raise their pet issues, considering the Republican presidency. Republicans questioned how they could tease a coherent, conservative program from a conflicted and divided legislature.

Matheson and other freshmen have their work cut out for them. Republicans hold a six-seat majority in the House, and the Senate is numerically deadlocked, with Vice President-elect Richard L. Cheney slated to be the tiebreaker. Veterans within the Republican Party are pushing for a change in the dynamics of leadership, hoping to balance the need for bipartisanship with the political desire for a conservative legislative agenda.

Ralph Hellmann, the legislative director for House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), urged his colleagues on Friday to find a comfortable balance between their own desires and the enormous expectations upon them.