WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 - He has been described by his colleagues as obstinate, recalcitrant, difficult and even ornery. When Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin emerged Tuesday morning from a closed-door session in which he urged fellow Republicans to oppose an intelligence overhaul bill, another adjective had been added to that list: defeated.
Mr. Sensenbrenner, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, had lost his fight for a provision that would deny a driver''s license to illegal immigrants.
But on Capitol Hill, where winning and losing is in the eye of the beholder, Mr. Sensenbrenner''s backers said Tuesday that he had emerged victorious because he extracted a promise from House Republican leaders to put the license issue high on the agenda when Congress returns in January.
"People always thought he was a little ornery and difficult to get along with, but on this issue he has been incredibly effective," said Representative Zach Wamp, Republican of Tennessee, who said he intended to oppose the intelligence bill because it did not contain the language Mr. Sensenbrenner wanted. "I think his stock just soared in our conference."
Mr. Sensenbrenner is just one of several influential lawmakers whose reputations are bound to be shaped by the expected final passage of the intelligence overhaul this week.
They include Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, who was criticized by Democrats for not bringing the bill to the floor 17 days ago; Representative Duncan Hunter, the California Republican who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who abandoned his objections to the bill after last-minute revisions; and the bill''s chief authors in the Senate, Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, and Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut.
Mr. Lieberman, who has kept a fairly low profile since his unsuccessful run for vice president in 2000, has re-emerged in the spotlight - to his benefit, Democrats and Republicans said. But Ms. Collins might turn out to be the biggest winner, after a roller-coaster ride in which the bill seemed destined to pass, then doomed, then back on track.
At a news conference Tuesday - which was Ms. Collins''s 52nd birthday - one lawmaker after another offered enthusiastic praise.
"I''ve been in Congress for 20 years," Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the West Virginia Democrat who is his party''s senior member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, "and I''ve never seen any person exercise the leadership, the restraint, the good humor, the toughness to stand up against whoever she had to stand up against than Susan Collins."
Senator Norm Coleman, Republican of Minnesota, said: "There were a lot of folks who doubted whether this moment would come. I actually told Susan I never doubted it, because I know Susan Collins."
The debate over the bill exposed serious fissures between the House and the Senate, and those differences were apparent Tuesday.
"I''d say the losers are the Senate," said Representative Candice S. Miller, a Michigan Republican on the Armed Services Committee. She also declared Mr. Hastert a winner, saying, "You saw a Republican House that was willing to stand up and take the heat and do the right thing."
Among those who stood up most publicly was Mr. Hunter, whose objections led to the compromise measure that the House approved overwhelming on Tuesday night. Backers of the original bill suggested that the revisions were minor and that the revisions were simply an effort by Mr. Hunter to exit the controversy gracefully.
"Oh, absolutely," Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republican of Michigan and a chief House author of the bill, said wryly when asked if there was meaningful change. "Before, Duncan Hunter opposed the bill, and now he supports it. It is about as meaningful a change as I could get."
Other Republicans said Mr. Hunter''s standing had been enhanced.
"He went from being somewhat unknown to being somewhat of a national figure, and certainly in the eyes of the Republican conference, his stature grew exponentially," said Stuart Roy, a spokesman for Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the majority leader. "He stood up not just to the Senate, but also to the president."
Mr. Hunter was asked Tuesday if he felt like a winner. "Yes, I think very clearly," he replied. "But I don''t think I won. I think the troops won."
For his part, Mr. Sensenbrenner was at times taciturn on Tuesday, at times defiant.
"I will not rest until these provisions are enacted into law," he said in a speech on the House floor.
But he had few words for the reporters who waited for him outside the closed-door session.
"I don''t do hallway interviews," he said, brushing the throng aside with a smile that seemed to mask a scowl. "Merry Christmas to you all."