Senate Republicans suggested Friday that the White House might warm to a Democratic proposal to ramp up domestic spending if interim funding for the Iraq war is added to the package.

Jon Kyl of Arizona, the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, predicted that Republicans would be willing to “talk about some things” if Democrats offer an omnibus appropriations bill free of “pork-barrel” spending with several months’ worth of Iraq war funding and no conditions attached.

“Just ratcheting up the amount and then cutting it halfway is certainly not an answer,” Kyl told reporters before the Senate recessed for its two-week Thanksgiving break. Kyl was referring to a Democratic plan to “split the difference” between Congress’s and Bush’s budget levels for domestic spending.

Other Republicans on Friday echoed Kyl’s sentiment.

The Republican offer, however, is making little headway within the Democratic Conference. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said his “thoughts on compromising domestic spending [are] somewhat laughable.”

Reid said the president just signed into law a $460 billion Pentagon funding bill that can supply enough war funding until the end of February or the middle of March. He criticized Republicans for blocking on Friday $50 billion in additional war funding that also included a goal of withdrawing troops from Iraq by December 2008.

“We offered him some more money. He refused that,” Reid said. “So if [Republicans] want to follow the president over the cliff, then they’re welcome to do that.”

The comments came after the Senate refused Friday to take up two bills that would provide interim funding for the Iraq war. The $50 billion Democratic bill failed by a 53-45 vote, short of the 60 needed to proceed to debating the bill. The Republican alternative, which would provide $70 billion with no strings attached, received fewer votes than the Democratic alternative, failing 45-53 on a procedural vote.

When Congress returns in December, Democrats will float an omnibus funding bill that will likely package together 11 remaining spending bills and not include Iraq war funding, Democrats say.

In the omnibus bill, Democrats plan to propose an $11 billion increase above Bush’s request, a drop from the $22 billion boost they had been seeking for much of the year.

But the White House is strongly opposed to an increase over its proposal, promising a veto and raising doubts that a compromise can be reached when lawmakers return in December.

The White House and Republicans say Iraq war funding will be dried up in January. After the Friday votes, the GOP charged that Democrats were leaving Capitol Hill without approving necessary funds to help the country win the Iraq war.