Congressional Democrats are pulling back on their plan to enact an economic recovery or stimulus plan by Inauguration Day and are extending the timeline to early February.

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said the original plan, which would have required a House vote early in the week of Jan. 12, now appears too ambitious.

“It’s going to be very difficult to get the package put together that early so that it can have sufficient time to be reviewed, and then sufficient time to be debated and passed,” Hoyer, D-Md., said on “Fox News Sunday.” “But we certainly want to see this package passed through the House of Representatives no later than the end of this month, get it over to the Senate, and have it to the president before we break for the presidential break.” Congress goes on a week hiatus the week of Feb. 16.

Democrats had been hoping to have a bill ready for President-elect Barack Obama ’s signature shortly after he is sworn into office on Jan. 20. The legislation would cost hundreds of billions of dollars and is aimed at turning around the struggling economy.

House and Senate Republicans have warned Democrats not to rush a bill through Congress without holding public hearings or providing GOP members opportunities to put their imprint on the bill. Republican leaders say enacting a bill by Jan. 20 would not allow enough time to review the legislation.

Despite losing seats in the November election Republicans still have the ability to slow legislation in the Senate because Democrats do not have a 60-vote supermajority that would allow them to potentially end filibusters.

Congressional Democrats have been in discussions with Obama’s transition team over a bill that could cost between $700 billion and $1 trillion and would focus on spending for infrastructure projects, aid to states for such things as Medicaid programs and a tax cut aimed at the middle class.

Republicans have said they are concerned about the overall price tag of the bill being discussed but have been careful to say they are not outright opposed to the broad elements of the legislation.

“All we’re suggesting, here, is that we be a part of the process,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky., said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“The president has said he wants to create 3 million new jobs, presumably as a result of this economic stimulus package. We want to make sure it’s not just a trillion-dollar spending bill, but something that actually can reach the goal that he has suggested,” McConnell said. He also added Republicans are concerned that too many government jobs — as opposed to private-sector employment — would be created.

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., made an effort to strike a conciliatory tone, saying he wants Republicans to be part of the process.

Reid pushed back against the idea Democrats have a strict timeline, saying only that it should done “as quickly as we can.”

McConnell suggested that before moving to a stimulus package, Congress should enact the nine remaining spending bills for fiscal 2009, which began Oct. 1.