President Clinton has again urged Republicans not to go ahead with impeachment, while moderates whose vote will decide whether he is impeached later this week are coming under increased pressure to declare their intentions.
The White House is especially focusing its campaign on Republicans in the New York area, where three Congressmen led by Mr Peter King have come out against impeachment and another six are listed as undecided. The Republicans have a 22-vote majority in the House of Representatives so at least 15 defections would be needed to block the impeachment, as some Democrats may vote for it.
Mr King, from Nassau County, Long Island, is a friend of Sinn Fein president Mr Gerry Adams, and takes a close interest in Northern Ireland. Mr King, although generally a political opponent of President Clinton, strongly supports him for his activist policy on Northern Ireland.
A columnist in the Wall Street Journal quipped last week that Mr King may end up as "ambassador to Ireland for life" for his pro-Clinton efforts.
Mr King, with the tacit approval of the White House, has been campaigning among fellow Republicans for support for a motion of censure as an alternative to impeachment. A few weeks ago, he claimed that up to 30 Republicans favoured this approach. But now that the Republican leadership opposes allowing a motion of censure to be tabled with impeachment, Mr King is finding his campaign to save Mr Clinton much tougher.
Three other prominent New York Republicans have come out against impeachment but, unfortunately for Mr Clinton, they do not have a vote next Thursday. They are Governor George Pataki, Mayor Rudy Giuliani and outgoing Senator Alfonse D'Amato.
New York as a state has voted strongly for Mr Clinton in the last two presidential elections, so any Republicans voting to impeach the President have to be conscious that they can damage their own reelection prospects in the Congressional elections in 2000.
The White House has been disappointed with the announcement of another New York Republican of Irish-American stock, Mr Jim Walsh, that he will vote for impeachment. Mr Walsh also takes a close interest in Northern Ireland. He promoted the recent law to grant 12,000 non-immigrant visas to young people from Northern Ireland and the Border counties in the Republic.
Meanwhile, Vice-President Al Gore threw his weight behind censure for President Clinton in an effort to head off impeachment. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Mr Gore said that Mr Clinton's conduct had been "terribly wrong" but "there ought to be censure, not impeachment".
Mr Gore dismissed Republican calls for the President's resignation. "That's not going to happen."
Mr Gore accused the Republicans of defying the will of the American people in not allowing a censure vote later this week.
"It is not the right thing to do. It is not in keeping with the wishes of the American people, it is not following the wisdom of the American people and so I would hope that the leadership in Congress would reconsider and allow this compromise approach that the American people want," the Vice-President said.
"It's a sad day for America when extreme elements of one party seek to impeach the President on a party-line vote in a lame-duck Congress without allowing members to vote their consciences," said the White House special counsel, Mr Greg Craig.
A poll for ABC News showed 61 per cent backing for censure, with support distributed among voters of both parties. On impeachment, the poll showed 38 per cent support and 60 per cent opposition, with opinion divided along party lines. The poll shows that 86 per cent of Americans believe Mr Clinton lied under oath about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
President Clinton, speaking in Gaza to reporters before a meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, said that it was not in the interest of the United States to go ahead with impeachment and offered to make any "reasonable compromise" to end the confrontation with Congress.
"I don't believe it's in the interest of the United States and the American people to go through this impeachment process and have a trial in the Senate," Mr Clinton said.
Asked if he would be willing to admit lying under oath about his relations with Monica Lewinsky, he replied "I've said what I have to say about that."