By Coral Davenport, CQ Staff

Both chambers are expected to defy the White House on Tuesday and pass legislation that would require the administration to halt oil shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

The strong bipartisan support represents a major shift for Republicans, who until now have generally followed the lead of President Bush in contending that halting deliveries would have almost no effect on gasoline prices.

Democrats have long opposed pumping more oil into the reserve when gasoline prices are high, arguing that it pushes prices even higher, and that diverting the fuel into the market could ease some pain at the pump.

Bush has threatened to veto the proposal if it crosses his desk, but some lawmakers say support is so strong that it may pass both chambers with enough votes to override a veto.

The Senate is expected to vote on the proposal to halt those shipments as an amendment to a flood insurance bill (S2284). The prospect of passage in the Senate prompted House leaders to add a stand-alone bill (HR 6022) to the Tuesday floor vote schedule.

The Senate measure would bar deliveries to the reserve as long as the price of crude oil remains above $75 per barrel. That idea was proposed as part of a larger energy package introduced last week by Senate Democrats (S 2991); it’s similar to a provision in a larger Republican energy package (S 2958) also scheduled for a Tuesday vote.

In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., and Energy and Commerce Chairman John D. Dingell , D-Mich., have pushed hard in recent weeks to freeze SPR shipments, calling repeatedly on Bush to halt the oil deliveries.

In recent days, Republican House members have also indicated their support. The bill will be considered under suspension of the rules, which bars amendments, limits debate and requires a two-thirds majority vote for passage.

‘There’s wide bipartisan support for it,” said a House Democratic leadership aide. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t put it on under suspension.”

On Sunday, Minority Whip Roy Blunt , R-Mo., told CNN that he would “like to see us do something about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. I think we should stop filling it.”

Competing Packages

In every other way, the Senate Democratic and GOP energy packages are different, composed of a grab bag of recycled provisions that have long been passionately opposed by the other side, and many of which have failed repeatedly in previous Congresses.

But by breaking off this piece of their broader energy package, Democrats appear to be setting up a political victory that would allow them to claim credit for moving oil legislation.