Democratic leaders hope to finish the 11 annual spending bills over the weekend and vote on an omnibus package early next week.

At a press conference Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sketched a tentative schedule for legislation funding the government next year.

“We would love to have it up on the Internet over the weekend and in the Rules Committee on Monday and on the floor on Tuesday,” said Pelosi of the omnibus. “That is our hope.”

But that does not mean necessarily the Congress will adjourn early next week. The House has passed a stopgap measure funding government until Dec. 21.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said a final spending deal with Democrats is coming into focus, although she cautioned that lawmakers must resolve important details.

“We don’t know what their top line would be; we don’t know what policies they might try to put into the bill; we don’t know what tax increases they might try to put into the bill,” said Perino. “But in general we’re encouraged that we can get to an endgame here.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), however, sounded a note of caution.

“As we speak, there is no agreement on spending,” he said.

The prospects of an agreement between Congress and the White House improved substantially Wednesday when Democratic leaders announced they would cut spending in the omnibus to the $933 billion overall limit set by President Bush.

Democrats have also floated the possibility of adding $3.7 billion in emergency spending for veterans’ healthcare.

“I think there’s a lot of rumors and a lot of discussion out there,” said Perino, when asked whether the president might accept added funding for veterans. “And the president has said his number is $933 billion, and we’ll see what they come up with.”

The House held its last vote of the week Thursday afternoon.

Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, said he believed the Senate would likely finish its work on the farm bill Thursday evening.