WASHINGTON (AP) – President Bush reassured Republican congressional leaders Thursday in White House meetings that he is stepping up his push for an overhaul of Social Security, confronting dissent in his party over pursuing what will be politically risky changes.

“It was really just an opportunity to discuss what the strategy needed to be to get this done and the president reiterated his commitment to lead this effort,” said Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the third-ranking Republican in the House.

Bush wants to remake Social Security by letting workers divert some of their payroll taxes from the retirement system into personal investment accounts. He will make a speech next week to retirees and younger workers in an attempt to sell the plan by showing how people could benefit.

But he still must persuade the Republican-controlled Congress to implement the most far-reaching changes to the system since its creation during the Great Depression. Though Republicans have increased their majority in both houses, changes would require clearing a hurdle of 60 votes in the Senate.

Underscoring that difficulty, Sen. Arlen Specter, a prominent Republican moderate, has expressed his opposition to cuts in promised Social Security benefits for future retirees

“I strongly oppose this approach,” Specter says in a letter on his official Web site. The Pennsylvania Republican did not state a position on investment accounts.

To pay for investment accounts and make the system solvent, the White House is focusing on a plan that would change how future benefits are calculated, by tying them to inflation instead of wages over a person’s lifetime. The plan relies on investment accounts to make up any shortfall.

“Democrats believe that any proposals to reform Social Security must not add to the deficit, must not harm the middle class and must not cut guaranteed benefits,” said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

There is particular political concern among House Republicans, all of whose seats will be on the ballot next year. As a result, several officials said congressional leaders have discussed having the Senate act first on Social Security legislation.

There also is dissent in the party about the approach: A faction of Republicans, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, oppose cutting future promised benefits to help close the system’s long-term financing gap, which the administration is leaning toward.

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