Returning senators face key vote on spending bill
Close vote expected
By Ted Barrett
CNN Washington Bureau
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The Capitol will be the site of President Bush's State of the Union address Tuesday night.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. senators return to work Tuesday, facing a vote on a $820 billion catch-all government spending bill that was held over from last year after it got bogged down in partisan disputes over various side issues.
How that vote is handled this time could set the tone for how well Republicans and Democrats work with each other this election year. The vote is expected just hours before President Bush is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address.
The Republican leaders who control the chamber will force a preliminary vote on the "omnibus" bill Tuesday afternoon to see if they have the necessary 60 votes to override a Democrat-led filibuster.
Most Democrats oppose the bill, citing policy provisions added to the bill dealing with overtime pay, meat labeling, media ownership, school vouchers, and other issues. A handful of Republicans are also considering voting against the bill, despite heavy lobbying by their leadership.
Aides on both sides of the aisle say the vote will be very close and could go either way.
If Republican leaders succeed, final passage on the bill could take place by week's end, relieving GOP leaders from what has been a drawn out battle and clearing the increased funding to the government agencies affected by the bill. But if the Democrats win, they will score a rare legislative victory and may force Republicans to strip the bill of the unwanted policies.
However, Republicans are considering another strategy if they lose. Instead of changing the bill to meet the Democrats' demands, they might pass a bill keeping the funding at last year's levels.
Fiscal conservatives like that approach because it saves the government money. But it also means that millions in pork barrel spending inserted into the bill by lawmakers from both parties would be lost.
Bush will take center stage Tuesday evening with his State of the Union address, outlining the policies he wants Congress to pass this year. Bush, who angered Senate Democrats last week by promoting a federal judge over their objections, has a lengthy agenda, including contentious issues such as immigration reform, Social Security privatization, and making permanent the recently enacted tax cuts. All of which will be difficult to pass through a Congress polarized by pre-election posturing, lawmakers said.
That posturing will continue in the months ahead as congressional Republicans and Democrats try to pass a budget for next year as well as tackling a handful of other bills. Those bills deal with: highway funding, higher education costs, pension reform, gay marriage, tort reform, corporate tax cuts, free trade, welfare reform, mutual fund reform, and post-war Iraq.
Few in Washington are optimistic lawmakers will be able to bridge their differences on many of these issues while splitting their time between Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
