House leader postpones intel vote decision until next week

With two key committee chairmen waiting to see how President Bush addresses their concerns, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., is not in a rush to decide whether to schedule a vote on legislation that would make sweeping changes in the government's intelligence operations.

A spokesman said Hastert will not decide whether to proceed before Monday. That timetable would give Hastert time to review a letter from President Bush -- expected Thursday or Friday -- and see if opposition from conservative members has softened.

An earlier effort to end a long standoff between the House and Senate failed when House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., opposed a compromise and Hastert, under pressure from conservative Republicans, called off a vote.

A spokesman for Sensenbrenner said Thursday the chairman wants the legislation to include one of two of his proposals that Senate conferees rejected last month. One provision would prohibit states from issuing drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants. The other would tighten laws allowing foreign visitors to claim asylum.

Hunter wants stronger language in the bill to protect the military's chain of command. Although there are no signs of movement, Senate Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters Thursday that an agreement can be reached, but she made it clear the ball is in the president's court. "I am optimistic that the speaker will decide to schedule a vote next week, as a result of a full-court press by the president and his staff," Collins told reporters.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush will "be in touch" with Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Frist about the legislation "in the very near future."

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, said on Thursday that his main concerns with the bill have been resolved.

Myers said he had been concerned about the way the budget for the major intelligence-collecting agencies now under Pentagon control would have been handled. But with that issue resolved in the conference agreement, the Air Force general told reporters he would have nothing else to say about the legislation.

"Don't read anything into that," he said. "I believe that intelligence reform is very important."