Tax Vote May Happen This Week, Says Hoyer

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters on Tuesday that a vote to extend Bush-era tax cuts this week is “certainly under consideration” in the House.

When asked two days ago by ‘Fox News Sunday’ host Chris Wallace whether a vote would occur before the November elections, Hoyer sounded less than iffy.

“I doubt that we will [vote on that], and let me tell you why. The Senate has refused to move forward on that issue. As you know, we have some 400 bills pending in the Senate, 75 percent of which have gotten 50 Republican votes or more, but they can’t move through the Senate, so it would be an specious act,” Hoyer said.

Despite pressure from the White House, Senate Democrats officially punted on the issue last week, likely due to an unwillingness to raise taxes this close to an election. Republicans meanwhile, have been adamant that all tax cuts, including ones for Americans making more than $250,000 a year, be extended for at least two years. Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other House GOP leaders included this measure in a heavily-hyped policy agenda that was released last week.

On Friday, a pair of House Democrats sent a proposal to Boehner and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) offering them a slight chance at compromise.

Under the proposal, Congress would enact a five-year freeze on current tax rates for individuals and joint filers making less than $250,000 per year, and a one-year extension for those making $500,000 or less per year. The plan would allow Pelosi to hold a vote under a procedure known as suspension of the rules, which requires legislation to receive a two-thirds majority of votes to pass.

Without support from Republicans or Democrats running for reelection in conservative-leaning districts, the legislation probably won’t pass. But a vote would give Democrats an opportunity to force their counterparts to go on record as being against tax cuts for the middle class.

Hoyer hinted today that he and his colleagues are embracing the idea of holding a vote as a strictly symbolic gesture.

“If we thought we could get it through the Senate, absolutely, we would act,” he said. “We may well act anyway.”