White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Monday that House Republicans should quickly agree to a two-month extension of the current payroll tax holiday.
The Senate passed the bill overwhelmingly on Saturday, but House GOP leaders have since made clear that they will oppose the bill in a vote this evening.
Once they formally reject the Senate plan, lower chamber Republicans are expected to reaffirm support for a measure to extend the two percent tax cut for working Americans by a full year. The bill, which the House passed last week, also contains an extension of unemployment benefits and cancels a soon-to-take-effect scheduled cut to reimbursement payments to doctors who accept Medicare.
The White House last week threatened to veto the GOP plan due to the fact that it contained an add-on regarding the Keystone XL pipleline. Interestingly, the Senate’s version, which Obama blessed after it was passed on Saturday, did not omit the the Keystone language.
During his briefing today, Carney was asked whether President Obama was surprised to learn that House Republicans are not on board with the temporary extension.
“It was certainly our expectation…that there was support in the House for a measure that would ensure that Americans didn’t have their taxes go up in twelve days,” he said.
Carney also noted that prior to announcing his opposition to the plan during a television appearance yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) had urged rank-and-file members of his party to accept the Senate bill.