Asked for the prospects reaching of an accord on Monday, spokeswoman Dana Perino replied: "I think it's very likely" and noted that Democrats who control the Congress hoped for a vote on Tuesday.

"Some progress was made over the weekend," said Perino. "But as of this morning, we still haven't seen legislative language that the Democrats are working on, so we can't give an assessment of something we haven't seen."

"So one of the sticking points is that, that we just need to see the language," she told reporters.

Perino said President George W. Bush was pushing for a "financial viability adviser," named by the president, to make sure that any auto company receiving long-term taxpayer aid was viable.

"When we do see the legislation, one thing we want to make sure is that it does not weaken the requirement that any long-term financing only be made available to firms that have a credible viability plan," she said.

But that proposal does "not necessarily" clash with Democrats' push for an oversight board to achieve the same purpose," said the spokeswoman.

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