WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators and the White House reached a tentative agreement this morning on a $700-billion Wall Street bailout, acting with urgency to complete a deal to shore up the economy before financial markets open Monday.
"I think we're there," said Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, joined by congressional Democrats and Republicans at post-midnight news conference at the Capitol.
Party leaders still need to present the agreement to their rank and file, but with leaders of both parties appearing together after marathon talks, the agreement stands a good chance of passing Congress and getting President Bush's signature within a few days.
"We've made great progress," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said. "We have to commit it to paper so we can formally agree."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said there likely would be a formal announcement today.
The rescue plan, which grew from a three-page proposal sent to Capitol Hill by the Treasury secretary a week ago to more than 100 pages, would allow the federal government to purchase bad debts from ailing financial institutions in an effort to stave off more bankruptcies and provide cash for new loans to ease the credit market freeze-up.
While negotiators did not provide details of the agreement, the plan is expected to call for the money to be made available in installments instead of one enormous lump sum. It is also expected to include additional oversight of the government's spending, limits on the pay of executives of firms that receive government aid, help for homeowners at risk of foreclosure and a provision that taxpayers share in any profits from the sale of distressed assets.
A House GOP leadership aide said the agreement included an insurance program sought by Republicans under which financial institutions would pay premiums to help pay for bailing out less solvent companies.
Democrats have noted that Paulson considered such an approach unworkable because many firms are short of cash. One Democratic staffer likened the GOP insurance proposal to buying homeowners' insurance on a house that is already on fire.
The concession was, nonetheless, important because Democrats are unwilling to back the controversial plan without Republican support.
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said in an interview that lawmakers want to see on paper "what we believe we have agreed to."
