Senate Moves Forward on Stimulus, Now $838 Billion

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2009— -- The Senate voted 61-36 today to close debate and move forward with a gargantuan stimulus package meant to kick-start the moribund economy with $838 billion in one-time spending and tax credits.

The bill could pass Tuesday, but cleared a key procedural hurdle today with help from three Republicans and ailing Democrat Ted Kennedy, who voted for the first time this year.

Kennedy, D-Mass., who suffers from brain cancer, returned to the Capitol for the first time since he had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance after suffering a mild seizure just after President Obama's inauguration last month.

"I returned to the Senate today to do all I can to support our president and his plan to get our country back on track. We face a historic crisis and must act quickly, boldly and responsibly to enable our economy to begin growing again in Massachusetts and across America," Kennedy said in a paper statement.

Democrats will need the senior senator from Massachusetts again Tuesday, when there is another 60-votes-needed motion, and they will have to be able to break the Republican filibuster after the bill is reconciled with what passed the House.

Those votes could come later this week, depending on how the conference goes -- and whether the Republicans who supported the bill today still support it after Democrats change it in conference later this week.

The bill won't pass the Senate until Tuesday, but Democratic congressional leaders tell ABC News that House, Senate and White House negotiators already began meeting today, starting discussion on how to resolve the differences between the bills passed by the House and Senate.

The early discussions are a recognition the clock is running out on Obama's President's Day deadline, and this will be a long and difficult negotiation.