Washington - US president-elect Barack Obama is to start consulting Monday with Congress on an estimated 775-billion-dollar emergency economic stimulus programme he hopes to sign into law upon his inauguration January 20.

With the country in recession for a year and US stock indices shedding 34 to 40 per cent of their value in 2008, the economy tops Obama's agenda. He plans to meet Monday with the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, a fellow Democrat, the Washington Post reported.

The Obama family is moving to Washington over the weekend so their daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, can start school Monday.

Pelosi has declared her intention for the House to vote in the week of January 12 so that Obama has the programme on his desk for signature the day he moves into the White House on January 20.

But Republicans and conservative Democrats, worried already over the trillions of dollars the government and Federal Reserve have thrown to the banks and auto industry to bail out the financial system, could block the move.

Pelosi has already scheduled hearings on Obama's proposal for Wednesday, the day after the newly-elected Congress take their seats.

But Obama's team has not yet released details of its request, which is to include a two-year massive programme of infrastructure repairs and construction that would provide jobs for up to 3 million out-of-work Americans. (dpa)