By Niels Lesniewski and Rachael Bade, CQ Staff

Senate Democrats are preparing to bring legislation to the floor next week that would overhaul U.S. Postal Service operations, after negotiations to amend the bill prior to floor action appeared to fall flat.

The sudden movement comes weeks after sponsor Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., predicted that his bill (S 1789) could reach the floor as soon as the end of January. But others in the Democratic Caucus, led by Vermont independent Bernard Sanders, had risen up in protest, saying that some provisions from his stalled bill (S 1853) should first be incorporated into the measure.

Lieberman, the chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said Wednesday that signatures were being collected to set up a cloture vote on a motion to consider his measure after the Senate completes work on an insider-trading measure (S 2038).

He said he believes that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., intends to hold the cloture vote at the beginning of next week. To do that, Reid would have to file for cloture by the end of this week.

Should 60 senators vote for cloture, the ensuing debate could take up much of the chamber’s time before a two-week recess that is scheduled for the beginning of April.

The Senate is trying to pass an overhaul bill before a moratorium on closing postal facilities expires on May 15. At the request of Democrats, Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe agreed to hold off on a round of announced closures until that date.

Lieberman compiled his bill with several other senators, including the ranking Republican on his panel, Susan Collins of Maine, and Delaware Democrat Thomas R. Carper. But Sanders has led a group of 26 Democrats in pushing for changes, and Reid indicated last week that he thought the closed-door negotiations would not be able to resolve the outstanding issues without having a floor debate.

In an interview Tuesday, Lieberman said he would be open to a robust amendment process to resolve senators’ differences.

“We have a good committee bill, we’ve been working with people who have questions about it for amendments and I’m ready to take it up,” Lieberman said.

Sanders also cited progress Wednesday.

“We’re working hard with Sen. Lieberman and Sen. Carper, and I think we’re making some progress,” he said. “I think we have a little bit more to be done, but I think we are making some progress.”

Unresolved Disputes

The increased use of electronic communications and a sharp decrease in first-class mail left the Postal Service with billions in losses in the past few years. Donahoe has said that, without an overhaul, the quasi-governmental agency will run out of money this fall, and he has called for $20 billion in cuts to operating costs by 2015 in order to restore the 200-year-old institution to fiscal solvency.