As Congress enters the final stretch of an eight-week work period, Democratic leaders promise a busy legislative schedule — the better to expand the list of accomplishments that incumbents can brag about over the Memorial Day recess.

“We want to leave here with getting a lot of our work done here in the House,’’ said John B. Larson of Connecticut, deputy chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. “In the Senate, the Republicans are going to continue to block things.’’

The pre-recess rush, which will cap an unusually long series of workdays for both houses, is expected to include:

• The long-delayed farm bill conference report (HR 2419);

• An Iraq and Afghanistan war supplemental that could reach nearly $200 billion when domestic spending such as new veterans’ benefits are added in;

• Senate consideration of legislation that would provide collective-bargaining rights for firefighters, police officers, and other state and local public safety officials (HR 980). That bill might not gain enough votes for cloture, though, and could be bounced from the pre-recess agenda; and

• Possible conference negotiations on the budget (H Con Res 312, S Con Res 70). “I hope we get it reported next week, filed next week, so we could bring it up on the floor the following week,” House Budget Chairman John M. Spratt Jr., D-S.C., said May 8.

Leaders also are pushing for a conference agreement on consumer product safety legislation (HR 4040), a defense authorization package topping $600 billion (HR 5658) and an extension of expiring renewable-energy tax incentives.

Republicans dismiss the Democrats’ agenda as padded with run-of-the-mill items. The majority party, they say, has little to show for its second year in control of Congress, other than the economic stimulus package (HR 5140 — PL 110-185) that sailed through early in the year with bipartisan support.

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., says he also remains hopeful that agreement can be reached on renewing the intelligence surveillance program (PL 95-511) that expired about three months ago.

But Republicans say Democrats are hindering anti-terrorism efforts and endangering U.S. troops in the field by insisting on unacceptable surveillance legislation and, in loading a war spending bill with domestic add-ons, inviting a veto from President Bush.

“Democrats never cease to shock and amaze me by their ambivalence’’ on renewing the surveillance law, said Adam H. Putnam of Florida, head of the House Republican Conference. “There are real consequences in the real world for America’s national security for not having reauthorized this.’’

Tom Cole of Oklahoma, head of the GOP’s House campaign committee, said Republicans will have a lot to say to their constituents if Democrats start the one-week break fresh from passing war funding and surveillance bills that will be vetoed.

“I suspect they’ll have talking points if they want them,’’ Cole said.

Democrats counter that Republicans in Congress continue to make the mistake of allying themselves with Bush, whose approval ratings are among the lowest ever recorded for a president.

“They’ve been in a snit since we’ve been in the majority,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. “And they’ve just basically tried to stop us from doing anything. In spite of that, we’ve been able to go around a lot of the procedural hurdles they’ve set up and accomplish some good things for the country.”

“The president is probably getting writer’s cramp from all the legislation we’ve been sending him in the last six months,’’ said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

In addition to the stimulus package, Pelosi’s list of accomplishments includes the energy package (HR 6 — PL 110-140) that raised auto mileage standards for the first time in three decades; a student loan bill (HR 5715); a cleared bill to ban genetic discrimination (HR 493), which had been bottled up for more than a decade; and a transportation bill (HR 1195) she said will create 40,000 jobs.

“All of these bills were passed with strong bipartisan support,’’ Pelosi said.

Democrats admit that polls show the public holds Congress in low esteem, but they point out that surveys also give their party a big lead when voters are asked which party they want to see in charge on Capitol Hill.

“Here’s the problem the Republicans have: They’re on the wrong side of the issues people care about, especially bread-and-butter issues,’’ said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Van Hollen has reason to gloat.

Democrats have won two special House elections in districts that had been rock-ribbed Republican.

In addition, fundraising totals are lopsided in their favor, and they think their November electoral prospects are rising.

Republicans, meanwhile, will be taking a step in the week ahead toward trying to reverse that trend. The House GOP intends to roll out the first segment of a platform it’s putting together to “fix the Republican brand,” as Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio put it.

Bart Jansen, Kathleen Hunter and Alan K. Ota contributed to this story.