US President Barack Obama worked hard to push his massive stimulus plan forward on Tuesday as the Senate continued the debate on the over US$800 billion spending bill.

One day after expressing optimism that action on the massive plan will be finalized soon, Obama on Tuesday accepted interviews with all five major US television news outlets -- ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox News, a move to seek public support.

There is "no magic bullet," he told Fox News, and adding that he was working with Congress on the stimulus plan and "we are closer to getting it right."

Also on Tuesday Obama named Republican Senator Judd Gregg as the commerce secretary in another effort to build bipartisan cooperation in his government.

Obama announced his choice for the key cabinet post at a White House press conference, and urged the Senate to rapidly confirm the nomination so Gregg could start to work on the boosting trade of the country that is currently in the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.

"With the stakes this high, we cannot afford to get trapped in the same old partisan gridlock," Obama said.

Gregg also echoed the president, noting "this is not a time for partisanship" and "this is not a time when we should stand in our ideological corners and shout at each other."

To seek the union for his massive stimulus plan, Obama also spoke by phone with some GOP governors who are supporting the economic recovery plan being considered by Congress.

White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama held talks with Governors Charlie Crist of Florida, Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, and Jodi Rell of Connecticut, who have signed a letter supporting a recovery plan that they believe will "help them make it through tough budget times."

Gibbs noted the plan will help governors avoid making cuts in valuable services such as public safety.

"We hope to be able to get a bill to you in the next couple of weeks so we can put America back to work and start digging ourselves out of this deep hole that we're in," Obama told visiting Vermont Governor Jim Douglas at White House on Monday.

The Senate, which began debate on the stimulus plan on Monday, continued the battle on Tuesday as Republicans sought to prevent the massive stimulus bill from becoming a Democratic spending bill.