Obama Warns Democrats of Veto Over Bailout Funds

"We've made great progress, and we fully intend to meet our deadline," Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters. She disclosed no details.

For Obama, attendance at the Democrats' weekly closed-door lunch was a homecoming of sorts, a return to the Capitol where he arrived as a newly elected senator only four years ago.

Reid called it a "lovefest," and said the president-elect was greeted with a five-minute ovation by Democrats happy to have the White House back after eight years of Republican rule.

Sen. Carl Levin said the session had a sentimental tone at times, despite the magnitude of the nation's economic woes and the challenge Obama and fellow Democrats confront.

"It's kind of hard not to call him, 'Barack.' So he said, `Call me Barack for the next couple of days,'" Levin said with a smile.

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Separately, Obama's nominee as budget director, Peter Orszag, said at his confirmation hearing that even after the economy recovers, annual deficits could reach $750 billion or so and steadily exceed $1 trillion by the end of the next decade. The president-elect has pledged to make deficit-reduction a priority, but says economic recovery must come first.

Despite its size, the economic stimulus bill is not expected to face heavy opposition among Democrats, and Obama has won praise from Republicans for showing a willingness to show deference to their concerns. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., floated a new proposal, raising the possibility of a two-year elimination of Social Security payroll taxes.

Obama got a boost during the day from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said in a speech in London that the emerging legislation could provide a "significant boost" to the sinking economy.

Bernanke also warned in remarks prepared for the London School of Economics that a recovery wouldn't last unless other steps were taken to stabilize the shaky financial system.

There was plenty of controversy surrounding Obama's decision to tap the $350 billion remaining from the financial bailout program that Congress created last fall, when the nation's credit markets ceased working and plunged an already weak economy into a tailspin.