WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders moved quickly into intense negotiations with the Obama administration Tuesday after the Senate voted to approve its version of an economic stimulus plan, and officials said the talks were on a fast track to finalize the legislation perhaps by the end of this week.
In a sign of their determination to swiftly reconcile the differences between the $838 billion Senate bill and the $820 billion House version, the White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, and the budget director, Peter Orszag, huddled at the Capitol on Tuesday evening with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other lawmakers.
The group worked through the dinner hour, and aides said they expected meetings to continue through the night. The administration’s top lobbyist, Phil Schiliro, also was at the Capitol.
Even before the Senate voted 61-37 to approve the stimulus bill, President Barack Obama met with Pelosi and Reid at the White House on Tuesday morning. The president then traveled to Fort Myers, Fla., to showcase a high-profile Republican supporter of the plan, Gov. Charlie Crist.
Among the differences to be resolved were proposals in the House bill to subsidize private health coverage for the unemployed and to offer temporary Medicaid coverage for those who cannot retain private insurance. The Senate bill provides $10 billion less in subsidies and does not offer expanded Medicaid eligibility.
Overall, the bills reflect differences in spending priorities amounting to tens of billions of dollars.
Obama announced the Senate’s passage of the bill in the middle of a question-and-answer session with voters in Fort Myers.
“We’ve got a little more work to do over the next couple of days,” Obama said. “But it’s (a) good start.”
Administration officials said that one priority of the White House would be to restore Obama’s signature middle-class tax cut to its original size. The Senate, trying to lower costs, had trimmed that proposal by more than $2 billion.
Congressional leaders have said they want the bill on Obama’s desk by Monday, and Pelosi has said Congress will not leave for a scheduled recess next week unless the bill is done.
The president told the audience, in blunt terms, that his political future depended on the economy rebounding on his watch.
“I’m not going to make any excuses,” Obama said. “If stuff hasn’t worked and people don’t feel like I’ve led the country in the right direction, then you’ll have a new president.”
One audience member’s tale of hard luck moved Obama to action.
When Henrietta Hughes said she was living in her car with her son, Obama walked to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Later, a White House press secretary said administration officials asked the local housing authority to contact her after the exchange in Fort Myers.
The wife of Florida state Rep. Nick Thompson offered to let the woman stay in a house she owns that’s vacant about 30 miles away. Chene Thompson said she wasn’t sure whether Hughes would take her up on the offer.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
