Senate Democrats emerged Friday night from days of negotiations to declare that they had reached a deal with at least three moderate Republicans and now have the votes to approve their own version of a huge stimulus package that President Obama says is critical to strengthening the nation's flagging economy.
The agreement on what Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called "the Obama plan" promised to deliver the new president his most important legislative victory so far.
But on the day another dire jobs report was released, compromise on the bill was reached only after far more wrangling than the administration had expected and with far less Republican support than it had hoped for.
Those involved in negotiations said the deal on what they billed as a $780 billion package - approximately $40 billion less than the House approved and nearly $160 billion less than an earlier Senate draft - came about after a working group of centrists agreed to reduce both spending programs favored by Democrats and tax cuts pushed by Republicans.
The final Senate bill probably will be around $800 billion, members of both parties said.
"We're going to make sure we're doing everything we can make sure this severe recession does not become another Great Depression," Reid said on the Senate floor. "That's why we worked all week to come up with a bill."
A vote on the deal by the full Senate is not expected before Monday. With every vote potentially crucial, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., traveled to Washington to vote for the bill, senators said Friday night, although he was not seen at the Capitol. Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, has been recuperating in Florida since Inauguration Day, when he suffered a seizure at a luncheon with the new president.
