WASHINGTON (AFP) — US lawmakers pushing an unprecedented 789-billion-dollar plan to arrest an economic tailspin prepared Thursday for final votes Friday in time to hand President Barack Obama his biggest win yet.
Facing Obama's self-imposed February 16 deadline, the Senate and House of Representatives worked to schedule decisive votes on Friday, as some aides warned of a slim chance that passage could slip to Saturday or Sunday.
"We're at the doorstep of getting this plan through the Congress, but the work is not over. When we do, the challenge will shift to administering successfully this endeavor of enormous scope and scale," Obama said Wednesday.
The president, who campaigned on the plan last year, visited the US Capitol and addressed lawmakers at a ceremony Thursday marking the 200th anniversary of the birthday of his political hero, slain president Abraham Lincoln.
And he was to pursue his hunt for elusive support from his Republican foes with a trip to East Peoria, Illinois, where heavy-machinery maker Caterpillar has said the stimulus would let it retain some workers it planned to let go.
Outgunned Republicans angrily pressed for at least 48 hours delay to review the bill, which had yet to be made public, but Obama's Democratic majorities seemed little inclined to agree and pushed for final votes.
"We've got to get a final version to my desk so that I can sign it," the president, hoping for a big legislative win after his young presidency suffered a series of early setbacks, said Wednesday.
Lawmakers and aides said the package, winnowed down from the Senate's 838-billion-dollar bill and the House's 819-billion-dollar version, broke down into 35 percent tax cuts and the rest in new government spending.
They said it included some 150 billion dollars in infrastructure projects, billions more would help 49 states that face deep cuts in services to meet legal requirements that they produce balanced budgets, money to extend unemployment benefits and health care, and other initiatives.
The House of Representatives vote "will be tomorrow. This will give members more time to read the bill," a compromise that came out of hard-fought negotiations on Wednesday, said a Democratic aide, who requested anonymity.
Another Democratic aide, who also requested anonymity, said "tomorrow is more likely, because the final bill text is still being drafted and won't be filed till the afternoon, and we want the caucus to have time to review."
The Senate was expected to follow quickly, though one Senate Democratic aide warned about rules that give the Republican minority more clout than in the House and cautioned that the way forward "is about as clear as mud."
Passage would amount to the biggest victory yet for Obama, who has described the package as critical to saving or creating 3.5 million jobs and promised it would "get our economy back on track."
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a key Obama ally, said Wednesday she hoped to "take up the bill in the House and Senate in the next day or two.
Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, an architect of the compromise, said Wednesday that no matter the timing "The votes are there for passage. That is clear."
While some Democrats rued cuts in stimulus money for school reconstruction, paring down the package was key to keeping three swing-vote Republican senators on board to reach the 60 votes needed to ensure Senate passage.
It seemed doubtful that the final vote would include many more Republicans, none of whom backed the House version and just three of whom favored the Senate plan.
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