Ms Monica Lewinsky and two other witnesses will be questioned by lawyers next week in the next phase of the impeachment trial of President Clinton. Their videotaped testimony may then be made public on the floor of the Senate when the full trial resumes.
Every effort is to be made to conclude the trial by noon on February 12th, but an extension of the deadline could be necessary if new material emerges from the depositions of Ms Lewinsky, Mr Vernon Jordan and Mr Sidney Blumenthal.
The new plan, drafted by the Republican majority, was voted through the Senate last night over the objections of the Democrats who argued all day behind closed doors to ban the use of videotaped testimony.
The Democratic motion to proceed immediately to the final votes on the two articles of impeachment was defeated.
Lawyers from the prosecution and the White House will be given four hours each for the deposition of each witness. The depositions are expected to begin on Monday with Ms Lewinsky.
This will be the first opportunity of White House lawyers to question Ms Lewinsky since the reports of her affair with Mr Clinton hit the headlines a year ago.
Mr Sidney Blumenthal, White House communications adviser may be next. President Clinton described Ms Lewinsky to him as a "stalker" and as offering sex to him, in earlier testimony.
Mr Vernon Jordan is the lawyer friend of the President who arranged for Ms Lewinsky to get a job with Revlon in New York soon after she filed an affidavit denying she had sexual relations with Mr Clinton.
The prosecutors will concentrate in their examinations of the three witnesses on the obstruction of justice charge against Mr Clinton.
They have indicated they will not question Ms Lewinsky about the perjury charge arising from intimate details of her trysts with Mr Clinton on which they have both given conflicting accounts.
Following the depositions, the senators will be able to view the videotapes in private and then the trial proper will resume next Thursday.
The Republicans may then argue that some of the videotaped evidence should be introduced on the floor of the Senate or even that Ms Lewinsky or other witnesses should testify in person.
After closing arguments from both sides, the senators will go into closed session to debate how they are going to vote. The vote on the two articles of impeachment will take place on Friday February 12th if all goes according to plan - a big if.
The Republicans have also allowed for leaving open the possibility of a vote on "fact-finding" that would formally state that President Clinton committed offences.
Following votes on Wednesday and yesterday, it is accepted there will not be the two-thirds majority required to convict the President and dismiss him from office. But the Republicans are hoping the testimony from Ms Lewinsky and the other two witnesses might produce a new element that could sway some Democrats to vote for conviction.
The White House was keeping a close watch on the negotiations on Capitol Hill between Republicans and Democrats.
The White House spokesman, Mr Joe Lockhart, denounced the Republican proposal, but the Constitution is clear. The Senate has one role which is to convict and remove," Mr Lockhart said, or to acquit.
Mr David Kendall, the President's private lawyer is said to be afraid that such a vote condemning the President for perjury and obstruction of justice would leave him open to prosecution after he leaves office early in 2001.
Senate Democrats said they are willing to pass a resolution to censure the President for his conduct and misleading the country over his affair with Ms Lewinsky.
The White House had warned frequently that if witnesses are called by the prosecution, this would prolong the trial for weeks or even months as the President's lawyers would need time to examine more than 50,000 pages of documents assembled by the Independent Counsel, Mr Ken Starr.
Now the White House is indicating it will not seek discovery of documents or call its own witnesses as long as no new damaging information emerges from the depositions of the three subpoenaed witnesses.