After 42 Hours (or So), House Democrats Complete 100-Hour Push

House Democrats met the goals of their 100-hour legislative offensive with plenty of time to spare on Thursday, claiming that their successes proved they could govern.

Republicans derided the hurry-up nature of the effort as a bit of one-sided political showmanship that undercut the Democrats’ pledge that the new Congress would be more bipartisan.

But the easy approval of the half-dozen measures in the 100-hour agenda — dealing with the minimum wage, embryonic stem cell research, health care, national security, education and energy — was celebrated by the new majority as a validation of the blitz, an idea born on the campaign trail that blossomed into a central House Democratic theme.

“It was a way to say that this Congress will no longer be a place where optimism and good ideas come to die,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who devised the approach as what Democrats deemed a counterpoint to 12 years of Republican control.

Ms. Pelosi also established another benchmark on Thursday, announcing that she had asked Democratic lawmakers who serve as committee chairmen to draw up a series of energy bills “so that by the Fourth of July we can have a package of legislation to truly declare our energy independence.”........