Budget Deal Faces Revolt in House; OK in Senate Seen : Congress: Gingrich breaks with Bush and vows to defeat the plan. The President says he will set aside partisanship and take his case to the people.

The new $500-billion budget agreement worked out by White House and congressional negotiators won strong bipartisan support in the Senate Monday, but ran into a setback in the House as Minority Whip Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) broke with President Bush and vowed to defeat it.

The proposed combination of tax increases and spending cuts was informally endorsed at separate closed-door meetings of Senate Republicans and Democrats, their leaders announced later--indicating that the controversial pact is likely to have smooth sailing in that chamber.

But Gingrich, flanked by a bevy of conservative Republican allies, and commanding a wide following among backbenchers in the House, formally declared his opposition, contending that the five-year deficit-reduction plan would send the economy into a tailspin.

Gingrich’s opposition--together with a natural election-year reluctance by lawmakers to vote for a big increase in gasoline taxes and cuts in Medicare--could help torpedo the budget accord in the House. Many Democrats also have said they will oppose the package.

The developments came as President Bush--speaking in New York, where he addressed the United Nations--said he would set aside partisan appeals on the budget over the next several weeks and take his case for the pact to the people in order to help speed it through Congress.

Without referring to Gingrich--or any other lawmaker--by name, Bush urged opponents to put aside individual objections to the “absolutely critical” pact and “exercise leadership for the good of the country.”

He said that despite the political pain, members of Congress should support the budget deal because it is “the right package at the right time.”

Democratic leaders in the House, who support the budget package themselves, have scheduled a test vote on the legislation this week. But they warn that it will not pass unless a majority of the 175 House Republicans is behind it.

All sides agree that the budget agreement faces an uphill fight in Congress in part because it contains some elements--such as higher taxes--that voters are almost certain not to like. The lawmakers have scheduled a series of votes on the accord between now and Oct. 19.

The support of House Republicans is important because under the ground rules agreed to by the budget negotiators, the accord must be approved by a majority of each party in each chamber. Therefore, only 88 of the 176 Republicans in the House could block the budget pact.

By contrast, backing for the pact in the Senate is widespread, key senators said Monday.

Immediately after the GOP caucus there, Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) told reporters that he is “very optimistic” that a majority of the 45 Republicans in that chamber will support the pact.

Dole’s Democratic counterpart, Sen. George J. Mitchell (D-Me.), while not quite as ebullient, nevertheless expressed similar confidence that a majority in his party will support the agreement.

“It won’t be easy, but the alternatives are so grim, I think it will be approved,” added Senate Majority Whip Alan Cranston (D-Calif.).

Although the Administration has insisted that the budget agreement will not hurt the economy badly, Gingrich was adamant Monday in his opposition.

“I have looked at the package . . . and it is my conclusion that it will kill jobs and weaken the economy, the tax increases are counterproductive, and it is not a package which I can support,” he told reporters after a meeting of the House Republican Conference.

“We believe it’s possible to get a better agreement,” he added.

Several of his supporters, including Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.) and Rep. Duncan L. Hunter (R-Coronado), echoed that criticism, charging that the Democrats got the best of the drawn-out bargaining with the White House.

“We got the short stick in the whole process,” McCollum complained.

Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.) said the accord is “a Democratic tax increase agreement stuffed down our President’s throat.” He called it “a Democratic recession package.”

While Gingrich has been warning for weeks that he would oppose the agreement, there were hints by some lawmakers that he drew more than expected support from GOP ranks, in part because of resentment over remarks made by one of Bush’s own top aides.

Lawmakers said White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu, who made an appeal for support before GOP members shortly before Gingrich’s announcement, stirred a backlash against the plan by making statements that the lawmakers interpreted as political threats.

Some lawmakers who were present during Sununu’s appearance said that he seemed to threaten that in cases where a congressman opposed the budget agreement, Bush would travel to his district to challenge him publicly on the issue. They said that the statement sparked resentment among many lawmakers.

Vice President Dan Quayle, also sent to Capitol Hill to rally support among Republicans, acknowledged that the Administration faces an uphill battle in the House.

“I feel like a friendly dentist--applying Novocain and trying to extract a few votes,” Quayle told reporters. “We’re not there (achieving majority support) yet.”

The President’s pledge to limit the ardor of his criticism of Democrats appeared to be part of an effort to hold the opposition’s support between now and Oct. 19, when the budget plan will face a final vote in Congress.

Aides said that while Bush will continue to campaign--he has an ambitious travel schedule that will keep him on the go for 18 days between now and the congressional election Nov. 6, his appeals are expected to be relatively low-key.

There were hints Monday that Bush may have to step up his efforts if he wants to see the budget pact approved by both houses.

Democrats are hoping to tie the plan to Bush even more firmly in the public mind by getting him to make a nationally televised speech in support of the package. Bush told reporters that he is considering the idea but that it is “not set yet.”

The budget package “is a compromise. Certainly I didn’t get everything I wanted,” Bush said. “But I was elected to govern.”

House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) said the House may vote as soon as Wednesday on a budget resolution containing the budget figures agreed upon over the weekend, but others in the Democratic leadership said that the showdown probably will be postponed until Friday.

In an extraordinary session Sunday, Congress delayed automatic spending cuts of $85 billion for five days, until midnight Oct. 5, and approved a bill to keep the government running this week pending the outcome of the budget battle.

Times staff writer Paul Houston contributed to this story.

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