House Republicans - who rejected an almost identical deal Tuesday - collapsed under the political rubble that accumulated over the week, much of it from their own party, worried that the blockade would do serious damage to appeal to voters.
Congressional aides suggested the measure would be passed on a voice vote by a handful of legislators. If some Republicans object to the process, House leaders could call the full House back next week before the tax cut expires Jan. 1.
The House speaker, John A. Boehner, who was determined to put the issue behind his party, announced the decision over the phone to members yesterday and did not permit the usual back and forth that is common on such calls, enraging many of them.
After his conversation with lawmakers, the speaker conceded to reporters that it might not have been “politically the smartest thing in the world’’ for House Republicans to put themselves between a tax cut and the 160 million US workers who would benefit from it, and to allow President Obama and congressional Democrats to seize the momentum on the issue.
The deal ended a partisan fight that threatened to keep Congress and Obama in town through Christmas and was just the latest of the bitter battles on fiscal policy involving House conservatives, Obama, and the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Under the deal, the employee’s share of the Social Security payroll tax will stay at the current level, 4.2 percent of wages, through Feb. 29. In the absence of congressional action, it would revert to the usual 6.2 percent next month. The government will also continue paying unemployment insurance benefits under current policy through February. Without congressional action, many of the long-term unemployed would begin losing benefits next month.
In addition, under the deal, Medicare will continue paying doctors at current rates for two months, averting a 27 percent cut that is slated for Jan. 1.
The new deal includes minor adjustments to make it easier for small businesses to cope with the tax changes and prevents manipulation of an employee’s pay should the tax cut extension fail to go beyond two months.
