Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson Retiring

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) is expected to announce his retirement Tuesday, according to various media reports.

Nelson’s decision to leave the upper chamber bodes poorly for Democrats, many of whom fear that his seat in the heavily conservative state will likely be taken by a Republican, thus decreasing Democrats’ chances of keeping the Senate. Five Democrats and one independent, the Democratic leaning Joe Lieberman, have already announced that they will not run in 2012.

Nelson, a former Nebraska Governor, was elected to serve in the Senate in 2000. He has gained headlines in recent years for being at odds with his party over key pieces of legislation, particularly health care reform.

Nelson is expected to formally make the announcement during a press conference Tuesday.

House Approves Senate Payroll Measure

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) issued the following statement after the House voted via unanimous consent to pass the Senate’s two-month payroll tax cut extension:

“Today’s vote ensures that on January 1st, 160 million Americans will not see their taxes go up, over 2 million Americans will not lose unemployment insurance as they look for work, and 48 million Americans will not lose access to their doctor. Now we must immediately focus on extending these critical policies for a full year. I am hopeful that Republicans will work with us to do so quickly, and not take Americans to the brink once more.”

Boehner Blinks, Says He'll Pass Senate Payroll Extension

Congress will convene today in hopes of approving a stopgap measure renewing payroll tax cuts for middle-class workers and unemployment benefits for millions - despite serious opposition among many rank-and-file House Republicans.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) caved Thursday afternoon after intense pressure and criticism from President Obama and congressional Democrats - but most notably, perhaps, from GOP notables like Karl Rove and the Wall Street Journal, along with Sens. Scott Brown (Mass.), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.) In a brief statement, Boehner said Republicans had won new provisions that would protect businesses from certain payroll reporting requirements.

He broke the news to fellow GOP members in an eight-minute conference call, in which no open mic session was held so no questions could be asked. Boehner said he didn’t know whether any lawmaker would object, but was prepared to call the House back into session next week to pass the bill.

Today’s House and Senate sessions are very unusual and tense since both chambers have technically recessed. Leaders will try to pass the short term agreement under debate rules that would allow any individual member of Congress to derail the pact, at least for a time.

Rep. Mo Brooks (Ala) said he may do exactly that. “The US Senate’s bill is horrific policy founded on political expedience and holiday schedules,” he said after the conference call. Likewise, Freshman Rep. Mike Kelly (Pa.) added “I’m not so sure I’m not going to” drive to Washington to protest the unanimous consent agreement.

In a statement released by the White House Thursday evening, President Obama said, “this is good news, just in time for the holidays…This is real money that will make a real difference in people’s lives.”

The wheels to a deal were set in motion yesterday when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called on the House to pass the 60-day extensio and for the Senate to appoint conferees to negotiate next month. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has pledged that the two sides will be able to quickly iron out their differences.

Should today’s unanimous consent vote pass, the bill will then go to President Obama for signature to become law for two months. This, of course, will set off a heated January showdown over how to offset the cost of continuing the two percent tax cut and long-term jobless benefits averaging $300 a week, as well as preventing doctors from absorbing a 27% cut in Medicare payments for another ten months.

Geoff Holtzman contributed to this report.

Exclusive: Speaker's Office Denies Shutting Down C-Span Feed

Speaker John Boehner came under fire from the blogosphere Wednesday after allegedly ordering the cameras C-SPAN uses to shut down during a moment of high drama on the House floor.

As House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer attempted to bring a two-month extension of payroll relief up for a vote, C-SPAN viewers suddenly saw the feed go silent and then shift to unrelated footage of the Capitol building’s exterior. Shortly after, the cable network Tweeted that they have “no control over the U.S. House TV cameras.” Instead, the Tweet read, “the Speaker of the House does.”

The progressive news outlet The Raw Story followed up on the occurrence with the headline “Boehner’s office cuts off C-SPAN cameras as GOP takes verbal beating” and the story quickly circulated across the web.

However, Boehner’s office denies having a hand in the incident.

“The House Recording Studio, which works under the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, operates the cameras in the House chamber,” a Boehner spokesperson told the Talk Radio News Service. “The Speaker’s office had no involvement in this matter.”

When contacted for clarification, a C-SPAN spokesperson explained that the Tweet was not intended to hold Speaker Boehner culpable. Instead, the spokesperson said, the Tweet was aimed at emphasizing that the cameras inside the lower chamber are owned and operated by the House itself, not C-Span.

Update (3:49 pm) Dan Weiser, the Communications Director for the Chief Administrative Officer, confirms that the Speaker’s office was not involved in the decision to end the live feed.

Weiser told TRNS that Hoyer’s statements on the floor came after the House was officially adjourned, which is typically when the cameras stop rolling.

“While there are seconds of live broadcast prior and subsequent to each meeting, on Wednesday, December 21, the broadcast continued for approximately 57 seconds after adjournment,” Weiser said. “That length of time is atypical and unintended and the office of the [Chief Administrative Officer] takes full responsibility for it.”

Boehner Brushes Off Political Toll Of Payroll Fiasco

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) Thursday shrugged off complaints from Conservatives over the handling of payroll relief.

“Politics will be politics,” Boehner said during a press conference. “If you do the right things for the right reasons, the right things will happen.”

The Speaker added that the House was simply trying to complete what both the White House and the bulk of lawmakers initially sought- a one year extension of payroll relief.

House leaders, particularly Boehner, have taken a bashing from a number of Senate Republicans as well as the Conservative leaning Wall Street Journal Editorial board.

“[Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Boehner] might end up re-electing the President before the 2012 campaign even begins in earnest,” the editorial reads.

On Wednesday, former Bush adviser Karl Rove endorsed the editorial, imploring Boehner to salvage his image by passing the two-month extension and then criticizing the President and Democrats for refusing to come back to the negotiationg table.