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Unlike January, when several politicians stood to defend him, now Ill. senator seems largely alone.

Despite calls, Ill. senator says he won't resign amid probe of contacts with Blagojevich associates.

The largest newspaper in Illinois on Tuesday called for U.S. Sen. Roland Burris to resign, a day after Burris detailed several conversations with impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother he had failed to mention under oath.

Illinois Sen. Roland Burris said Monday that his sworn testimony regarding his contacts with then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich was consistent with what he later said in an affidavit.

The plan is budgeted at $789 billion, which is smaller that original bills passed by each chamber. It could be sent to President Obama for his signature by the end of the week.

House and Senate negotiators have struck a deal on a final version of a sweeping economic recovery package.

House, Senate leaders scale plan down to $789.5B, a net reduction of almost $40B from what the Senate approved yesterday, senior adviser says.

After a 61-to-37 vote that was largely along party lines, negotiations with the House over the $838 billion bill will begin.

The House version of the stimulus bill emphasizes helping states and localities avoid wide-scale cuts, while the Senate plan focuses more on tax cuts.

A Senate committee on Thursday abruptly postponed a vote to confirm President Barack Obama's nominee to be labor secretary following a news report that her husband may have tax problems.

Moderates work to slash tens of billions of dollars from bill in hopes of attracting bipartisan support.