WASHINGTON — President Bush, jarred by investigations of White House officials and congressional leaders and an uproar over his Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, said yesterday there was "some background noise" complicating the work of his administration.

But he said, "The American people expect me to do my job, and I'm going to."

Bush's comments, at a Rose Garden news conference with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, reflected the administration's argument that its agenda is moving forward despite a growing list of problems.

The president promised to remain focused on seeking peace in the Mideast, invigorating the economy, rebuilding the hurricane-shattered Gulf Coast and protecting it from the new storm approaching this weekend. At the same time, he said, "There's some background noise here, a lot of chatter, a lot of speculation and opining."

While Bush asserted that his agenda was moving ahead, his most ambitious domestic proposals on Social Security and taxes already have been shelved. GOP congressional leaders huddled with the president this week on a legislative agenda that had been pared to only the must-do items of the federal budget, Katrina recovery, Patriot Act renewal and the Miers nomination.

Senators oppose heating funds

For the second time this month, the Senate voted against putting more money into a program that helps low-income families meet home-heating costs.

Senators who opposed the $3.1 billion in emergency money for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program said the aid would be dealt with as part of a larger emergency-spending bill that Congress probably will consider soon.

But advocates said that with the weather turning cold in northern states and energy prices soaring, there was no time to delay. Many families, said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a sponsor of the measure, face a stark choice: "to heat or to eat."

Reed and others said that with natural-gas prices expected to rise by 50 percent and heating oil by more than 30 percent this winter, $5.1 billion is needed just to keep pace with the program's needs.

Fifty-three senators voted yesterday for the amendment to a transportation and housing spending bill, seven short of the 60 needed to waive budget rules on new spending. Forty-six opposed it.

Vote ends longtime probe of Cisneros

The Senate decided yesterday that it was time to close to a decade-old, $20 million investigation of former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros — years after Cisneros received a presidential pardon.

The amendment to a spending bill, approved by voice vote, would require that the report of Independent Counsel David Barrett be made public within 60 days, and that the independent counsel close his office within 90 days after the report is published.

Cisneros, housing secretary from 1993-96, admitted in 1999 that when he was being considered for a Cabinet job, he lied to the FBI about how much he had paid a former mistress. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was fined $10,000. President Clinton pardoned him in 2001.

Compiled from The Associated Press