Both chambers of Congress passed the two-month extension to the payroll tax cut, after several days of mounting public pressure on Speaker John Boehner to drop his opposition. The House and the Senate gave unanimous consent, a move allowing the measure to pass even though most members are out of town.
President Barack Obama has pledged to sign the extension before going to Hawaii to join his family for the holidays. Boehner announced the deal late Thursday, saying that the House GOP’s opposition was the right thing to do, in spite of public opinion. “It may not have been politically the smartest thing in the world,” Boehner said, but the end result was “we were able to fix what came out of the Senate.”
