Washington ? Time and money are short, and an election to determine who controls Congress is straight ahead as lawmakers return from their summer break to deal with Iraq, homeland security, the budget and a host of other pressing issues.

Pension protections, election reforms and energy policy will also be on the table when the Senate today and the House on Wednesday regroup for the final push of the 107th Congress.

The Democratic-controlled Senate’s first order of business is legislation creating a homeland security department. Already approved by the House and eagerly sought by the Bush administration, the bill faces tough debate in the Senate.

Democrats are balking at President Bush’s insistence on greater power to hire and fire and a provision barring union membership for some of the 170,000 employees who would be assigned to that agency.

From there, the plan is to take up protections for worker pensions and 401(k) plans, which Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., says will complement the new law cracking down on corporate wrongdoing.

That schedule could be disrupted if the Senate decides to take up a resolution endorsing military action against Iraq.

Sen. John Warner of Virginia, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, says he wants hearings on possible plans to attack Saddam Hussein. “Congress, as a co-equal branch of government, is, in my opinion, not going to sit on the sidelines,” he said.

President Bush says he will consult with Congress, but doesn’t need congressional approval to invade Iraq.

Homeland issues at stake

Meantime, Bush scheduled a meeting today at the White House with lawmakers to discuss the homeland security bill, kicking off a week of sessions designed to give momentum to his legislative agenda.

The House will concentrate on the 13 spending, or appropriations, bills that Congress must pass to operate the government. With an Oct. 1 deadline for the start of the new fiscal year, the House has passed five of those bills and the Senate three. Not one has been sent to the president. It’s nearly certain that Congress, as it often does, will have to pass a stopgap funding measure to keep federal programs running after Oct. 1.

Still, lawmakers won’t do much legislating for a while after their return. On Friday they travel to New York for a special session to honor victims of last September’s terror attacks.

Congressional leaders, meanwhile, will be under strong pressure to recess, probably in mid-October, and return to finish their work after the Nov. 5 midterm election. Four of Daschle’s closest neighbors Senate Democrats Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Jean Carnahan of Missouri are in tight races that could determine whether Democrats retain their one-seat majority.

In the 435-member House, Democrats need to pick up seven seats to end the GOP’s eight-year control.

In a recent radio address, Bush acknowledged that with an election approaching, “the tendency is to focus more on scoring political points than on making progress. I hope the Congress will reject this approach.”

But that’s unlikely.

Spending decisions costly

At the urging of Republican conservatives, the first spending bill to come up could be one of the biggest and most difficult a measure to pay for education and health programs. Following a gloomy Congressional Budget Office report projecting budget deficits for at least another four years, Republicans want to show that they, unlike Democrats, can hold the line on spending.

“We fully expect the Senate to lard up every bill that comes down the pike,” said Pete Jeffries, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

The House leadership is readying more tax relief bills, including one to allow families to claim deductions for kindergarten through grade 12 educational expenses such as tuition, tutoring or purchasing computers.

Those tax cuts may be of value in some election campaigns, but they face a bleak future in the Senate, where Daschle and other Democrats say Bush tax cuts are a major reason for the government’s “stunning” shift from budget surpluses to deficits.

Controversy ahead

Among other pending issues:

l Ken Johnson, a spokesman for House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La., said a “knockdown, drag-out fight” is expected over House plans, opposed by the Senate, to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.

l The two chambers are close to agreeing on a long-stalled bill to make it harder to escape credit card bills in bankruptcy court. But House conservatives object to language preventing abortion protesters from using bankruptcy claims to avoid fines.

l A deal could be struck on legislation, growing out of the 2000 presidential election controversy, to ensure fair and accurate elections.

l Legislation to give the insurance industry federal protections when they offer terrorism insurance is in position for passage.

l The Senate, before leaving, failed to pass legislation providing a Medicare prescription drug benefit to senior citizens. But there still could be action to make generic drugs more accessible.