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 The move reverses a tentative decision announced earlier this month to strip the provision from the legislation in hopes of avoiding a Bush veto. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., buoyed by a veto-proof margin in a vote in May, has insisted the unemployment extension hitch a ride on the war funding bill.
House Democratic aides on Monday confirmed the development under condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
With only two working weeks before the July 4 congressional recess, time is running out for Democratic leaders, who have struggled for many weeks to find a way to pass the measure in a form that Bush will sign. A key disagreement has been over what additional legislation and domestic spending to add to the war funding bill, with the veto-averse House having a less-ambitious roster of add-ons.
Democrats have dropped provisions aimed at curbing Bush's ability to freely conduct the war after veto threats and a big Senate vote to reject them. The underlying funding would be enough to continue the war well into next spring so that Bush's successor can set his own course in Iraq.
The latest tentative agreement calls for the House to retain the unemployment benefits extension, despite a Bush veto threat, along with a major bill to beef up college benefits under the GI Bill for returning veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.
In exchange, the Senate is expected to drop more than $10 billion in additional appropriations for programs such as heating subsidies for the poor, wildfire fighting, road and bridge repair and help for the Gulf Coast.
Reid spokesman Jim Manley said Monday that the Senate would take up the bill after the House passes it this week and try to send it on to the president's desk. But Republicans are expected to block the measure until a tax surcharge on the wealthy
-- used by the House to "pay for" the 10-year, $50 billion-plus cost of the increase in GI college benefits
-- is stripped out.
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 Just last week, the House twice signaled strong support for extending unemployment benefits, including a veto-proof 274-137 vote for a stand-alone bill to extend unemployment payments for those whose benefits have run out by 13 weeks, with another 13-week extension possible in states with unemployment rates 6 percent or greater.
Republicans pointed to an earlier vote demonstrating they could sustain a veto and say they would support a more narrowly drawn extension of unemployment benefits if Democrats would only negotiate.
Under an unusual procedural setup, the war funding bill has been broken into two pieces, with the Senate sending the House a $165 billion measure to fulfill Bush's request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into next spring and a swollen package of domestic add-ons and foreign aid, including the unemployment benefits extension and generous increases to the GI Bill.
The Senate passed the package of domestic spending provisions by a lopsided 75-22 vote last month.
The new GI Bill essentially would guarantee a full scholarship at any in-state public university, along with a monthly housing stipend, for people who serve in the military for at least three years. It is aimed at replicating the benefits awarded veterans of World War II and would cost $52 billion over 10 years.
The price tag could grow even higher if, as expected, lawmakers include a Bush administration proposal to allow service members to transfer benefits to their spouses or children. One version of the benefits transfer provision would cost $16 billion over 10 years.
[Associated
Press; By ANDREW TAYLOR]
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