Officials: Dems plan quick 2009 start on bills

These officials said an economic aid measure, legislation to expand health care for lower-income children and a loosening of Bush administration rules covering federally funded embryonic stem cell research are among the bills at the center of discussions with Obama aides.

All three issues have been the focus of battles between the Democrats in Congress and President George W. Bush, and early enactment of any would underscore the change ushered in by this month's election.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to disclose the plans.

Democrats gained at least 20 House seats and at least seven Senate seats in the November elections, expanded majorities in place when the new Congress is sworn in on Jan 6. Under the Constitution, Obama takes the oath of office as the 44th president on Jan. 20.

Customarily, the preinaugural period is slow in Congress as lawmakers await the swearing-in of a new president. They then spend weeks doing little more than confirming Cabinet secretaries and other officials.

But Democrats now will have control of the White House and Congress for the first time since 1994, and officials in both branches of government are eager to begin work. John Podesta, a leader of Obama's transition team, told senior Democratic aides on Friday the incoming administration is making its Cabinet and sub-Cabinet selections faster than customary and hopes the nominees can be confirmed quickly.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said at a news conference Friday the focus for the first week of Congress "will be to introduce a strong recovery package to create jobs, good paying jobs, in our country and to bring more confidence to the financial crisis--to turn around the financial crisis."

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., declined comment on plans for early legislation.

But Obama said in the Democrat radio address Saturday he has asked his economic advisers to develop a plan that will create 2.5 million jobs by 2011--"a plan big enough to meet the challenges we face that I intend to sign soon after taking office."