Senate advances housing bill by veto-proof margin

The Senate voted overwhelmingly to end debate on a major housing-rescue package Tuesday, signaling there is enough support to override a veto.

With polls showing voters increasingly concerned about the mortgage and foreclosure crisis, the Senate responded by setting up a final vote that would authorize a $300 billion expansion of the Federal Housing Administration's insurance program for struggling homeowners. The measure also includes almost $4 billion for grants for states to take over foreclosed properties, a provision strongly opposed by the White House.

{mosads}Despite the White House's veto threat, the chamber voted, 83-9, to cut off debate. The margin is above the required two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. Final Senate passage could happen as early as Tuesday.

Shortly before the vote, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) filed an amendment that would require all members of Congress to disclose residential mortgages as a liability on their financial disclosure reports, aides said. That amendment has the support of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. A roll call vote is unlikely, but it could get rolled into a manager’s amendment.

Democrats are optimistic that the bill can be reconciled quickly with the House without the need to go to conference, and then pass both chambers by wide margins.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said that the Senate's recent override of Bush's veto on the five-year Farm Bill will be a model for the housing bill.

"We worked out [the farm bill] with sufficiently bipartisan compromise that it brought together a veto-proof majority," Kerry said. "That's what you have to do here. … This isn't a Democratic or Republican issue — these are folks that are hurting."