WASHINGTON — Senate leaders called off plans to vote on President Obama's economic recovery plan Thursday night in hopes that a group of centrist lawmakers from both parties would be able to fashion a compromise to cut the cost of the $937-billion bill and win support from at least a few Republicans.
After a long day of behind-the-scenes negotiations, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) dropped plans to hold a final vote on the bill as the bipartisan group of centrists worked into the night to trim as much as $100 billion, an attempt to bring moderate Republicans on board without driving Democrats away.
The stimulus bill is a cornerstone of Obama's efforts to revive the economy. But his hopes for bipartisan support have faded amid Republican complaints that it is laden with spending that does not promote job creation and that it does not offer enough tax cuts.
The House passed the legislation without a single Republican vote, and the price of the bill has grown by about $100 billion since reaching the Senate.
On Thursday, the Senate rejected a full-scale alternative proposed by Arizona Sen. John McCain -- Obama's Republican rival in the presidential campaign -- that would provide more tax cuts and less spending than Obama wants.
If the overnight effort to find a bipartisan compromise fails, Reid said, the final vote may not come until early next week.
Obama's personal and political prestige are on the line because he has been deeply involved in lobbying reluctant senators and trying to reach out to Republicans. The president showed a flash of impatience Thursday morning, saying: "The time for talk is over. The time for action is now."
Speaking in the evening to House Democrats holding a retreat in Williamsburg, Va., Obama warned that without swift action on the bill, "an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe."
Obama will have another opportunity to ratchet up pressure on Congress on Monday, when he holds his first prime-time TV news conference as president.
Once the Senate votes, the bill may still be substantially revised in a conference committee to reconcile differences between the Senate and House versions of the legislation.
The bill is a sweeping package of tax breaks for individuals and for businesses intended to spur economic growth; expanded benefits for the unemployed; aid to states to help maintain health and education services; and funding for highway repairs and other infrastructure projects.
