Obama, Pelosi to discuss stimulus package

WASHINGTON, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- The scope of a recovery plan for the punk U.S. economy will be discussed by President-elect Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, party officials said.

Obama and the California Democrat are scheduled to meet Monday as Congress prepares to reconvene and consider a substantial recovery plan, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The sit-down between Obama and Pelosi will be one of the president-elect's first acts after relocating his family to a hotel in Washington during the weekend.

Obama and Pelosi will discuss the scope and timing of the economic recovery package, which Obama pledged would be his first priority once he is sworn in. Pelosi has said she wants recovery legislation on Obama's desk ready to be signed Jan. 20, the day he takes the oath of office.

That target date may fall aside as Republican and conservative Democrats have raised concerns about the impact on the federal deficit of spending hundreds of billions of dollars on an economic stimulus package with little congressional evaluation. The spending package is estimated to be between $675 billion and $775 billion.