“We still have a great deal of work to do to repair the economy and get the American people back to work,” Mr. Obama said on Friday. Yet the steps he highlighted to show the government’s concern  some public works projects  are part of the two-year stimulus package he won a month after taking office, rather than new initiatives. Over the last few weeks, Democrats in the Senate have failed to muster enough votes to pass a new package of measures to address the economic weakness, reflecting what some of them see as the political perils of further deficit spending.

Within the White House, all of the Obama advisers, along with many outside economists, agree that both things are needed  additional stimulus this year and, before long, a clear sign that the government will soon take actions on taxes and entitlement spending, phased in over time, to reduce a debt that mounted during the recession to the highest levels since World War II. The advisers’ debate is over the timing and scale of any stimulus or deficit reduction.

Those pressing for more stimulus measures include Christina Romer, the chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers; Jared Bernstein, economic adviser to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.; and the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, who took that message internationally to the Group of 20 summit meeting of developed nations last weekend in Canada. Lawrence H. Summers, who as director of the National Economic Council tries to broker what he calls the “brakes-versus-accelerator” debates, nonetheless makes the economic arguments for an additional stimulus, officials say.

More focused on deficits  or at least on positioning Mr. Obama to show his concern  are his chief strategist, David Axelrod, other political advisers and Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, according to Democrats. Their lone supporter among the top economic aides is Peter R. Orszag, the budget director, who will leave the administration this month.

Mr. Axelrod, in an interview, said he often argues for emphasizing deficit reduction in part because “it’s my job to report what the public mood is.” He added, “I’ve made the point that as a matter of policy and a matter of politics that we need to focus on this, and the president certainly agrees with that.”