In days of negotiations, the administration has accepted demands from lawmakers to give Congress considerable authority to oversee the bailout and require that the government try to renegotiate the bad mortgages it acquires so more borrowers could keep their homes. Paulson also relented to requests to limit the severance packages that corporate executives can receive from firms benefiting from the government bailout.

In addition, rather than provide $700 billion up front, as Paulson initially requested, Congress would approve the funds in stages. Under one approach, $250 billion would be made available at once, with the president able to certify the need for an additional $100 billion on his own authority. The final $350 billion would become available with a second presidential certification, although this time Congress would have authority to block it.

Any compromise is also expected to require the government to obtain partial ownership of any company it invests in.

Democrats, too, signaled they were ready to jettison some of their priorities.

Frank indicated they might ultimately drop a requirement that a portion of any profits from the rescue be funneled to a fund to build housing for low-income people. That mandate, deeply unpopular with Republicans, "is not an essential," Frank said.

While Democrats control a majority of both the House and Senate, their leaders have made it clear they will not force their rank and file to vote without Republican support on a bailout advanced by an unpopular president on an unwilling public.

In an Associated Press-Knowledge Networks poll, only 30 percent of those surveyed expressed support for Bush's package. Forty-five percent were opposed, with 25 percent undecided. The survey was conducted Thursday and had a margin of error or plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. It was conducted over the Internet by Knowledge Networks, which initially contacted people using traditional telephone polling methods and followed with online interviews.

Aides to lawmakers in both parties say telephone calls from constituents are running heavily against the bailout — in some cases nearly 100-1 against, making the vote a potentially tricky one for a candidate in a competitive race.

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Associated Press writers Charles Babington, Jim Kuhnhenn and Jennifer Loven contributed to this report.