House Balks At Senate Payroll Package, Calls For Conference

UPDATE — House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called on Senate Democrats and President Obama to remain in Washington throughout the holidays to “work out our differences” and extend a payroll tax holiday for one year rather than approving a temporary, two-month extension.

“We’ve done our job, all we need now is to resolve our differences,” Boehner said Tuesday shortly after the House diapproved of a Senate bill to extend the payroll tax holiday. “There’s no reason we can’t do this in short order.”

Boehner also made clear, that despite previous reports that the House would adjourn following Tuesday’s votes, House GOP leadership and a handful of negotiators will remain “ready and able” to finalize a year-long extensions before Jan. 1. According to the Speaker, Reps. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), David Camp (R-Mich.), Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.), Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.), Tom Price (R-Ga.), Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Greg Walden (R-Ore.) would be on hand and in Washington through the end of the year.

The House Speaker questioned the willingness of President Obama to increase his involvement by demanding Senate Democrats reconvene to hash out an agreement.

“Now it’s up to the president to show real leadership,” Boehner said. “He said that won’t leave town for the holidays until this bill is done. I think President Obama needs to call on Senate Democrats to go back into session move to go a conference, and to sit down and resolve this bill as quickly as possible. We’ve done our work for the American people and now it’s up to the president and Democrats in the Senate to do their obs as well.”

This story was updated at 2:34p.m. EST…

UPDATE — Just before 1:00p.m. EST Tuesday, the House voted 229-193 to disapprove of the Senate’s two-month payroll holiday extension, calling the upper chamber back to conference to work out their differences.

The vote puts pressure back on Senate Democrats to reconvene even though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has already said the upper chamber was done with votes for the year. Reid took to his Twitter account to respond to the House’s latest vote.

“Happy to cont. negotiations on a yearlong deal as soon as #House passes the #Senate’s compromise, & prevents tax hike from hitting mid class,” Reid tweeted.

Reid’s statement indicates that Senate Democrats will not likely return to conference with House Republicans.

According to a Democratic aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity, following the lower chamber’s scheduled votes Tuesday, House members plan to follow suit with the Senate and adjourn for the holidays, leaving no window for a conference to actually take place.

“No conference, no nothing, everything expires,” the Democratic source said.

This story was updated at 1:26p.m. EST…

WASHINGTON - The House is expected to vote Tuesday on a plan that would send a Senate-passed, two-year payroll tax cut extension into conference, a procedure that would allow Republicans to reject the upper chamber’s bill without actually voting against it. 

Though House Republicans will not formally reject the Senate-passed extension with a vote, GOP leaders have said that the move to conference with the upper chamber would serve as a vote against the Senate’s bill. 

House Republicans are vehemently opposed to the duration of the two-month extension drafted in the Senate. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has said it is an attempt to “kick the can down the road for 60 days” and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) has said the “two-month bill would do more harm than good.”

Despite an 89-10 vote in the upper chamber and approval from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Republicans have opted to bring the bill to a conference in an effort to reach a deal that would extend the payroll tax package for a full year rather than accept a two-month-long extension. Democrats are taking the opportunity to label House Republicans as obstructionists.

“Speaker Boehner should allow an up-or-down vote on the compromise that Senator McConnell and I negotiated at Speaker Boehner’s request, and which was supported by 89 Republican and Democratic senators,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement. “It would be unconscionable to block a bipartisan agreement that would protect middle-class families from the thousand-dollar tax increase looming on January 1. It is time for Speaker Boehner to follow through.”

Reid has indicated that he will not re-open negotiations over the duration of the payroll tax holiday until the House passes the two-month extension.