President Barack Obama predicted a "difficult next few days" as the Democratic-controlled US Senate today debated an almost $900 billion stimulus package of federal spending and tax cuts amid Republican opposition.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he hoped to push the measure through the chamber by Friday after considering a stack of amendments offered by Republicans as well as members of his own party.
But Republicans - who last week withheld support from a similar measure in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives - appeared ready to fight to put more emphasis on tax cuts and less on new spending.
"We're not trying to prevent a package from passing. We're trying to reform it - reformulate it," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told a Capitol Hill news conference.
Senator McConnell, of Kentucky, said most members of his party believed the package can be trimmed and should be aimed initially at easing record home foreclosures, which have largely been blamed for the deepening recession.
At the White House today, Mr Obama told reporters, "There are still some differences between Democrats and Republicans ... between the White House and some of the products that have been discussed.
"But what we can't do is let various modest differences get in the way of the overall package moving forward swiftly," he said. "We can put America back to work and start digging ourselves out of this deep hole we're in."
Mr Obama, who met House and Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill last week, planned to meet congressional Democratic leaders at the White House later today.
Many Republicans and some Democrats have complained that a number of provisions in the package would not stimulate the economy and are little more than a liberal wish list, such as $50 million to promote the arts and $335 million to educate people about sexually transmitted diseases.
In an interview with NBC last night, Mr Obama said: "We're going to be trimming out things that are not relevant to putting people back to work right now."
The Senate bill contains $342 billion in temporary tax breaks and more than $545 billion in spending to total about $887 billion. Spending proposals include measures to upgrade education and healthcare, bolster energy programs and rebuild crumbling roads and bridges.
The House passed a somewhat different version last week without any Republican support. Senate Democrats will need at least two Republican votes, however, to clear possible procedural roadblocks.
Once the Senate passes its bill, negotiators from the two chambers will seek to resolve differences and then send a final bill to Mr Obama to sign into law. The president has said he wants such legislation by the middle of the month.