Obama seeks quick Senate action on stimulus bill

By Thomas Ferraro and Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama predicted a "difficult next few days" as the Democratic-led U.S. Senate on Monday opened debate on a nearly $900 billion economic stimulus package amid broad Republican opposition.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada aimed to push the package of tax cuts and new federal spending through the chamber by Friday -- after lawmakers vote on a stack of amendments offered by members of both parties.

These votes were to begin on Tuesday. The amendments seemed certain to ignite partisan fireworks but looked unlikely to torpedo the overall package, which Obama says will help fight the worst U.S. economic crisis since The Great Depression.

"We're not trying to prevent a package from passing. We're trying to reform it," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told a Capitol Hill news conference.

The House passed a somewhat different version of the stimulus legislation last week without any Republican support.

Senate Democrats will need at least two Republican votes to clear possible procedural roadblocks in the 100-member Senate, but they expect to get them.

Once the Senate passes its bill, negotiators from the two chambers will seek to resolve differences and then send a final bill to Obama to sign into law. The president has said he wants such legislation by the middle of the month.

Senate Republicans said they were ready to fight to put more emphasis on tax cuts and less on new spending.