WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic leaders yesterday put off an expected showdown over an economic stimulus plan until next week, concerned that the absence of Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois could doom efforts to force changes to the package fashioned by House leaders and President Bush.
"I still have two Democratic senators" on the campaign trail, said Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada and the majority leader. "Next Tuesday is Super Tuesday, and they're both very busy, as is [Republican] Senator [John] McCain. So I probably can't get them back here until Monday, but I need them back."
Jim Manley, Reid's spokesman, said the delay has less to do with presidential politics than parliamentary jousting over revisions to separate legislation that would continue government authority for warrantless surveillance of terrorist suspects. That bill could become part of a larger deal, but in either event it is clear that Democratic votes will be at a premium.
Reid and other Democratic leaders all but conceded they would not have the 60 votes needed to replace the $146 billion stimulus plan the House passed earlier this week with a $156 billion version the Senate Finance Committee approved Wednesday.
The Senate version includes extensions of unemployment benefits and rebates for more-affluent workers, disabled veterans, and low-income seniors - none of which are included in the House plan.
The House package offers $600 rebates to individuals - $1,200 to couples - plus $300 for each child. It begins to phase out eligibility at $75,000 in income for individuals and $150,000 per couple. The Senate version offers $500 to individuals and $1,000 to couples, but would double the size of the eligibility caps.
In a speech in North Carolina yesterday, Vice President Dick Cheney said any additional changes to the stimulus package "would only slow down the process or derail the bill altogether." The package is "not perfect legislation," Cheney said, but is "a sensible, fair, bipartisan agreement."
A delay in consideration of the stimulus package should have no impact on how quickly payments are mailed. The Internal Revenue Service will determine the size of payments based on 2007 tax returns, which are not due until April 15. It will take two months to reprogram IRS computers to cut those checks, a process the IRS intends to begin in mid-March in order to be ready to send the first checks in mid-May.
But Senate leaders clearly were plotting a course that is almost certain to force changes to the deal worked out by President Bush and House leaders of both parties.
If the Finance Committee version is killed by a Republican filibuster, as is possible, Reid plans to attempt to change the House bill piecemeal.
He will first offer a package of Democratic changes that will include unemployment insurance and food stamp extensions, heating assistance for the poor, home weatherization funds, mortgage counseling, and a plan to allow states to offer tax-free, home-building bonds.
Democrats will then offer separate votes on two measures with the most bipartisan support: tax rebates for 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans who, under the House bill, would not qualify because they could not show $3,000 in earned income.
That series of votes was arranged to virtually ensure that the House-approved stimulus plan will be modified in the Senate, forcing negotiations between the chambers. Even with such negotiations, Reid was confident a deal would be sent to Bush by Congress's self-imposed deadline of Feb. 15.
House leadership aides appeared to accept that their carefully crafted compromise is likely to change. "We hope for quick action that expedites the completion of the bill so we can send out recovery rebates as soon as possible," said Brendan Daly, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.
