Senate action uncertain on omnibus

House and Senate negotiators struck key deals Monday to reach a "veto proof" fiscal 2004 omnibus appropriations bill, but encountered new roadblocks that threatened to delay consideration of the omnibus -- perhaps until next year.

In the most significant agreement of the day, bargainers agreed to raise the broadcast media ownership cap from 35 percent of nationwide reach to 39 percent on a permanent basis -- as opposed to a one-year funding limitation.

The deal would have lifted a serious veto threat from a White House that notched several other victories in painstaking negotiations over a measure encompassing nearly $330 billion in discretionary spending and spanning dozens of federal agencies.

But the bill faces serious procedural hurdles to quick passage, as Senate Democrats and some Republicans probably will oppose a unanimous consent agreement to approve it before the chamber adjourns for the year as early as Tuesday, lawmakers and aides said Monday.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, predicted Monday's changes spelled defeat for the omnibus. Democrats agreed.

"It's very hard under expedited consideration to take up a bill as controversial as the comprehensive omnibus,"Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said. "There are a lot of senators who are anxious to see what it contains."

Senators had planned hold a vote on Medicare legislation late Monday and approve the omnibus measure by unanimous consent today. But the Medicare vote was switched instead to this morning and the changes Monday to the omnibus bill made an agreement on passage unlikely.

Appropriators could still file the conference report in the House as early as today. But with Senate action unlikely, the House probably will begin the process the week of Dec. 8, when it returns from the Thanksgiving break.

The Senate could then approve the measure when it returns in January. Agencies covered under the seven-bill omnibus currently are operating under a continuing resolution funding the government through Jan. 31.

Several provisions in the fsical 2004 omnibus mark victories for business interests, including the FCC media ownership provision. The compromise on the FCC rules changes represents a victory for media conglomerates News Corp. and Viacom International Inc., both of which would have had to divest assets to comply with the 35 percent requirement.

The deal came after a flurry of offers and counteroffers throughout the day, with the White House successfully reopening what was once considered a nonnegotiable provision, since the 35 percent cap was written into both House and Senate spending bills funding the FCC.

The FCC had proposed lifting the cap from 35 percent to 45 percent, but Congress blocked the move after heavy lobbying from a broad range of interest groups, from local broadcasting affiliates to the National Rifle Association.

The NRA stood to score another lobbying victory in the deal with possible inclusion of language shortening the period during which firearms retailers are allowed to destroy documents related to gun sales, from 90 days to 24 hours.

Negotiators were leaning toward such an agreement after Senate bargainers unsuccessfully tried to persuade House GOP leaders to agree to a 45-day window.

The provision is based on an amendment by Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., to the House's Commerce-Justice-State bill. It would have allowed immediate destruction of gun sale documents.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Stevens was clearly unhappy with the media ownership provision and other changes -- and with the administration and GOP leaders.

"It's not going to pass now. It'll come up in January and it'll be defeated," he said. "I told them not to screw around with this thing. I warned them this would happen."

Stevens had offered a 38 percent media cap on a permanent basis as a compromise -- with two years for affected companies to come into compliance. But the White House rejected it.

The administration had already won several other victories in the measure, including creation of a District of Columbia school voucher program; removing a provision that would have blocked proposed changes to Labor Department overtime compensation rules; additional funding for its Millennium Challenge Account initiative to foster democracy in developing nations; and more flexibility to outsource certain government functions to the private sector.

"They got 98 percent of what they wanted and were looking for the other 2 percent," a House appropriations aide said.

Already Monday, some of the White House victories were costing signatures on the conference report, aides said -- particularly the FCC rules. On the outsourcing agreement, the agreement denies an appeals process to federal employees who lose competitive bids. In addition to denying appeals, the agreement would eliminate a requirement that the administration prove cost savings in putting jobs up for competitive bidding.

The overtime provision would have preserved overtime pay under the new Labor Department rules for millions of workers currently eligible, supporters said.

In a statement Monday, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the union would mobilize "tens of thousands" of activists next week to urge lawmakers to reverse course and block the overtime changes.

"Congress must not allow President Bush to shove through the biggest pay cut ever for workers at the behest of giant corporations," Sweeney said.

Also Monday, negotiators reached an agreement on a provision banning the U.S. Patent Office from issuing patents on genetically engineered products, such as embryos and other human organisms.

Earlier Monday, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, spelled out the Dec. 8 return, which would be followed by adjournment until Jan. 20, 2004. However, that was before the possibility emerged that the Senate would not be ready for final action on the omnibus bill until sometime in January.

House Rules ranking member Martin Frost, D-Texas, circulated a "Dear Colleague" Monday to criticize two rules reported out of the Rules Committee last week. He said they would leave members no time to study the spending bills.

"Under this rule, it is conceivable that an omnibus document consisting of hundreds and hundreds of pages could come to the floor almost immediately after it is filed," Frost wrote. "Members would have virtually no opportunity to read this conference report."

-- Mark Wegner contributed to this report.