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Biomedical research is among the big winners, and physics among the losers, in the latest deal-making over the mammoth US economic stimulus bill.

The US Senate is today expected to pass an amended version of the (pdf format), which is (pdf).

Overall, science fared well in the Senate. According to an (pdf format), the Senate bill includes $17.8 billion for research and development, including $2 billion for new facilities and equipment – compared to $13.2 billion in the version previously passed by the House of Representatives.

This boost is mostly due to an extra $6.5 billion provided by the Senate for biomedical research at the . But the two main agencies that support the physical sciences – and the Department of Energy’s – were not so favoured. In the Senate bill, they get only $1.2 billion and $330 million respectively, compared to $3 billion and $2 billion in the House version.

A committee of members from the House and the Senate will now have to thrash out the differences between the two bills, so that a unified version can be put on President Obama’s desk. He wants to sign the bill into law by Presidents’ Day, 16 February. “They’re not going to sleep if they want to stick to this deadline,” says AAAS budget analyst .

For those who want to examine the figures more closely, the lobby group has provided a (.xls format).