President Bush on Monday took the unprecedented step of trying to force the Congress to vote on a controversial trade agreement with Colombia opposed by most Democrats.

The move sparked an immediate outcry from Democratic leaders, who for days had warned Bush against sending them the legislation. The Colombia deal was signed last summer before the so-called fast-track law expired, allowing Bush to prod Congress into a vote.

“By sending up the Colombia FTA [free trade agreement] legislation under circumstances that maximize the chances it will fail, he will be adding one more mistake to his legacy and one more mess for the next president to clean up,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) said they could not support the deal at present and criticized Bush for what they said was an “unprecedented” move.

“The president’s disregard toward a co-equal branch of government serves only to work against the long-term interests of the United States and Colombia,” they said in a joint statement.

This is the first time Bush has tried to use the fast-track law to force Congress into voting on a trade deal.

Last year, he only sent Congress a trade deal with Peru once it had been changed to meet the demands of key Democrats, who then offered their support.

Bush said he had tried to work with Congress to secure a path forward for Colombia, to no avail. He also said he had to send the legislation to Congress now to ensure a vote on the deal before his administration leaves office.

Under fast-track, Congress cannot amend trade deals and must hold votes within 90 legislative days of receiving legislation implementing a deal. The law also limits floor debate on the trade deal and prevents a Senate filibuster.

Despite the law, some observers have said it is possible Pelosi could use the House Rules Committee to block the bill. This would involve eliminating fast-track procedures from a House rule on a Colombia vote, which would then allow Democrats to vote to send the bill back to committee. Fast-track cannot prevent the House or Senate from changing their internal rules, including those governing the Rules Committee.

House Republican leaders on Monday urged Pelosi to schedule a vote.

The deal is extraordinarily sensitive to labor unions, an issue highlighted over the weekend when a senior strategist to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) resigned from her campaign after coming under criticism from union groups for meeting with Colombia’s ambassador about the deal. Campaign strategist Mark Penn conducted the meeting in his capacity as head of the lobbying and public relations firm Burson-Marsteller.