The Senate is expected to take up the homeland security appropriations bill next week, making that the first of the 12 fiscal 2008 spending bills to reach the floor this year.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., tried to go directly to the appropriations bill (HR 2638) Wednesday after failing to break a GOP filibuster against a proposal to force a withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., blocked Reid’s move to call up the homeland security bill (HR 2638), protesting that he had not been informed of it in advance. But Reid said that he expected to work out a deal with McConnell to bring the bill to the Senate floor next week.

The House passed the spending bill on June 15, one day after the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version (S 1644).

While the bill gives Democrats an opportunity to emphasize their proposals to protect against terrorist attacks, it likely will provide little respite from partisan wrangling. The $37.6 billion Senate version — which would provide $2.3 billion more than President Bush requested — is likely to draw a veto threat from the president in its current form. Much of the difference between the Senate bill and the president’s budget request is accounted for by proposed funding for first-responder grants.