Washington ? Congressional leaders are racing to push through an array of election-year housing measures that already have stirred up much political wrangling and the White House is examining its own plan to further help homeowners caught in the mortgage meltdown.

With foreclosure signs prevalent and a Wall Street rescue reverberating, majority Democrats want the government to step in and back up to $400 billion in troubled loans. The goal is to help strapped borrowers and thaw a credit market plagued by uncertainty about the value of subprime mortgages made to people with spotty credit or low incomes.

As lawmakers return from their two-week spring recess, their leaders are moving fast to increase the political heat on the housing issue. Many Republicans, though, are resisting what they characterize as heavy-handed federal intervention that could leave taxpayers on the hook for a mortgage bailout.

Senate Democrats plan a test vote this coming week on a series of housing proposals. One would let bankruptcy judges reduce the amount owed and interest payments on loans held by distressed borrowers. President Bush and Republicans strongly oppose the idea.

The Senate took up the plan several weeks ago. But the proposal, which also would make grants available to communities with the highest foreclosure rates so they could buy foreclosed properties, fell well short of the 60 votes it would have needed to advance.

Democrats, however, are determined to put Republicans in the position of making tough votes, given the issue’s potency for voters.

“Our hope is that when Republican members went back home they said ‘Let’s do something,”‘ said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, chairman of the Joint Economic Committee. “We feel the pressure is mounting and we are hopeful that there will be a change of mind in the Republican leadership,” said Schumer, D-N.Y.

Bush administration officials have signaled in recent days that they, too, are reviewing a new approach to help homeowners, including people who owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth. The White House is evaluating the Democratic proposals, but Bush advisers say the administration does not want to reward risky behavior by borrowers, speculators and lenders.

So far, the White House has no timetable for releasing any proposal. Bush is headed to Europe for the NATO summit and will return April 6.

In October, the administration helped bring together a private sector group called the HOPE NOW Alliance to streamline the process for refinancing and modifying mortgages. It runs a national hot line to connect struggling homeowners with mortgage counselors. Democrats say that is not enough.

“This is a good start and my administration is committed to building on it,” Bush said in his radio address Saturday. “So we’re exploring ways this program can help more qualified home buyers. The problems in the housing market are complicated and there is no easy solution. But by supporting responsible homeowners with wise policies, we’ll help them weather a difficult period, we will help get our economy back on track.”

Democrats plan high-profile hearings scrutinizing the Federal Reserve’s recent moves to help Wall Street weather the credit crisis.

The Fed helped broker the 11th-hour sale of a major investment firm, the failing Bear Stearns Cos., to a rival and guaranteed some $30 billion in Bear assets, including questionable mortgage-backed investments. The central bank also allowed investment houses to get emergency loans previously reserved only for commercial banks.

Schumer’s committee intends to question Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday. The next day, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee has summoned Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and executives from Bear Stearns and its buyer, JP Morgan Chase & Co.