Washington ? Faced with an unprecedented Republican revolt over national security, the White House on Wednesday disclosed that President Bush was unaware of a Middle Eastern company’s planned takeover of operations at six U.S. seaports until recent days and promised to more fully brief members of Congress on the pending deal.

One day after threatening to veto any attempt by Congress to scuttle the controversial $6.8 billion deal, Bush sounded a more conciliatory tone by saying lawmakers should have been provided more details about a state-owned company in the United Arab Emirates purchasing some terminal operations in Baltimore and five other U.S. cities.

“This is one where we probably should have consulted with, or briefed Congress on sooner,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

With the Senate holding a hearing on the deal today, the White House and the company are pushing efforts to save it.

But congressional Republicans renewed their vow to prevent the sale from being finalized next month and warned Bush that an overwhelming majority of lawmakers will oppose the sale on national security grounds.

The administration on Jan. 17 approved the sale of a London-based company that manages terminals at the U.S. ports to Dubai Ports World, owned by the United Arab Emirates.

The U.S. government reviews business transactions with national security implications and decided after a 23-day review by midlevel officials that Dubai Ports World posed no threat. McClellan said Bush learned about the sale in recent days.

Some big names have joined the Dubai Ports World fight on the side of the United Arab Emirates-owned company.

These include former Senate majority leader Bob Dole, R-Kan. Dole’s law firm, Alston & Bird LLP, led the effort by Dubai Ports World to steer its proposed acquisition through the U.S. government approval process.