Reid says supplemental might bypass committee

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) left open the possibility Thursday of bypassing the Appropriations Committee to advance a major wartime spending bill, a move that could set up a battle with senators from both parties before the Memorial Day recess.

Reid said the Senate was still waiting to see what bill would emerge from the House before he settles on a strategy for moving a spending plan. President Bush wants the measure to be limited to $108 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 {mosads}“I don’t know whether there is a need to have a markup over here with the Appropriations Committee,” Reid added.

Similar considerations are under way in the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is leaning toward moving the bill directly to the floor instead of allowing the Appropriations Committee to amend the measure. Leaders are concerned that the committee would make the bill too unwieldy and affect their ability to pass the bill. However, appropriators want to add a wide range of items to one of the few vehicles that is expected to pass before the November elections.

Reid’s comments came after Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) scheduled a committee markup next week after siding with angry Democratic and Republican appropriators concerned about leadership’s considerations to bypass the committee process.

The Senate majority leader said the scheduled markup was a move by appropriators “to protect themselves.” He added that “it’s easy to cancel a markup.”

Reid downplayed concerns his caucus would have on his floor strategy, saying “there was no kickback” during a Tuesday meeting with his caucus during a detailed discussion over procedure.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), an appropriator who also serves as the majority whip, would not discuss whether he supports holding a markup, saying he would “wait to see what the House comes up with.”

Democratic leaders have been holding closed-door negotiations for weeks but have yet to produce a supplemental spending proposal.

Acknowledging the difficulties in hammering out a compromise, Reid suggested it might be hard to draft identical House and Senate bills that would be approved by both chambers — without committee consideration — and ultimately sent to the president.

“I wish we could do a precooked deal, we haven’t been too successful by this point,” Reid said.