The question, of course, is whether any Republican will be able to manage the House with only a razor-thin six-vote majority.

But there were not enough members either for or against the application to produce the six-vote majority needed to dispose of the matter.

Scheduling may seem a tangential issue when Republicans are sorting out big-picture ideas like what to stand for and how to keep control in a House with only a six-vote majority.

With only a six-vote majority in the House, Republican leaders are taking no seat the party holds for granted - especially the one held by Representative Merrill Cook of Utah.

But they agreed that the party's slim six-vote majority meant every vote on the House floor would be a battle.

The race has become a fiercely contested one, largely because of the Republicans' slender six-vote majority in the State Senate.

If Mr. Hastert hopes for reconciliation, he needs to renounce such partisan tactics, especially since Republicans have only a six-vote majority in the next Congress.

With a mere six-vote majority, he has played down expectations about what he can accomplish.

Similarly, the Republicans are using some of their party's best-known officials to campaign for Mr. Ravitz, in a hard-fought effort to maintain their six-vote majority.

Late last week and early this week, Mr. Koch and his aides searched frantically for the six-vote majority needed to pass a measure at the board.