WASHINGTON, May 2: Republicans in the US House of Representatives thwarted a Democratic move on Wednesday to override President Bush’s veto of a congressional bill that sets a timetable for withdrawing American troops from Iraq.

The Democrats were far short of the two-third votes they needed to override the veto, President Bush announced on Tuesday.

The 222-203 vote, far short of the two-thirds majority needed for a veto override, occurred just ahead of a White House meeting that Mr Bush called to search for a compromise that enables the administration to receive $100 billion for running the war in Iraq.

“The president has turned a tin ear to the wishes of the American people,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during the hour-long debate before the vote. “The president wants a blank check. The Congress will not give it to him.”

As the meeting began, both Mr Bush and his Democratic opponents expressed hope that they would find a compromise formula to end this stalemate.

“I am confident that, with goodwill on both sides, that we can move beyond political statements and agree on a bill that gives our troops the funds and the flexibility they need to do the job," said Mr Bush.

The Democratic majority leader in the House, Steny Hoyer, said he hoped the chamber would vote on a new Iraq war budget within two weeks, and signalled that the party would not choke off funding for US troops.

"We will not allow this to languish," he said. "We are going to fund the troops, we are not going to leave our troops in harm's way without the resources that they need."

On Tuesday, Mr Bush vetoed the bill, hours after he received a formal request from the Congress to endorse it.

In a letter to the House, Mr Bush said he was returning the "US Troop Readiness … and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007” without approval because “it would set an arbitrary date for beginning the withdrawal of American troops without regard to conditions on the ground.”