House May Move Contra Vote

Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill Jr., pinching President Reagan’s powers of persuasion, said today that the House may vote on a $14-million aid package for Nicaraguan rebels the same day the Senate weighs the embattled plan.

White House spokesman Larry Speakes blasted the House vote schedule as “a legislative tactic . . . aimed at defeating the President” on the issue of aid to the contras. The Administration expected the House vote a week later than the Senate, giving Reagan more time to lobby wavering House members. The Republican-controlled Senate is to vote Tuesday on the $14-million request, but prospects for passage were so much in doubt that O’Neill’s strategy may be moot.