Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008 | 3:49 p.m.
WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said this evening that negotiators were making progress on a compromise auto bailout billl that he believes could "overwhelmingly pass" the Senate.
Reid held out hope that the Senate could still vote this evening on the plan for the Big Three automakers, as well as possibly a Republican-backed alternative, after a day of delays.
"We're a lot farther down the road than I thought we'd be," Reid said.
Senators have been meeting all afternoon to break the impasse after it became clear the $14 billion House-passed bailout of the Big Three appeared to lack the support needed to win approval in the Senate.
Sen. John Ensign, a leading Republican opponent of the bailout, crafted an amendment with fellow Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee.
The Ensign-Shelby amendment includes a provision that would provide government backing of vehicle warranties for companies that enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The provision is designed to ease concerns of bankruptcy opponents who say consumers wouldn't buy cars from companies undergoing reorganization.
Ensign's amendment so far appears to be a separate measure than the broader bipartisan bill.
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