Republicans and Democrats were gathering in closed-door meetings in the House on Tuesday to evaluate the bipartisan agreement struck in the Senate to let income taxes rise sharply on the rich and avoid the worst effects of the “fiscal cliff.’’
After the Senate approved the legislation in a highly unusual New Year’s morning vote, it moved to the Republican-controlled House, where some members said they were eager to learn the details but were deeply uncomfortable with the measure.
Video
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) criticized the “fiscal cliff” deal on the Senate floor early Tuesday morning. Harkin was one of eight Senators who voted against the bill.
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THE FIX | The best and the worst of the fiscal cliff talks.
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WONKBOOK | So you spent New Year's celebrating with your friends rather than following the twists and turns in the Senate. Shame on you. Well, we'll catch you up.
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Vice president, Senate minority leader struck late deals in 2010 tax-cut fight, 2011 debt-ceiling crisis.
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Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), walking into the first of two closed-door meetings of GOP House members, said the bill violated President Obama’s pledge to present a “balanced deal....This raises taxes AND raises spending.’’
Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio), an ally of House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said he will urge his colleagues to amend the deal. “We should not take a package put together by a bunch of octogenarians on New Year’s Eve,” he said, referring to Vice President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who personally crafted the agreement.
But Rep. Tom Cole (R-Olka.), another Boehner ally, said he believed the bill will get enough GOP votes to pass, noting the strong support of Senate Republicans.
The closed-door meetings are the first chance for the House to review the agreement, which primarily targets taxpayers who earn more than $450,000 per year, raising their rates for wages and investment profits. At the same time, the deal would protect more than 100 million households earning less than $250,000 a year from income tax increases scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.
The deal came together barely three hours before the midnight deadline, after negotiators cleared two final hurdles involving the estate tax and automatic spending cuts set to affect the Pentagon and other federal agencies this week.
Republicans gave in on the spending cuts, known as sequestration, by agreeing to a two-month delay in budget reductions that would be paid for in part with new tax revenue, a condition they had resisted. And the White House made a major concession on the estate tax, agreeing to terms that would permit estates worth as much as $15 million to escape taxation by the end of the decade, Democrats said.
On the Democratic side, Biden was meeting with House members to personally sell the deal, as he had done to Senators on New Year’s Eve. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) emerged briefly from the meeting and said the Vice President Biden is providing a lengthy “point-by-point presentation.’’
Lee said she’s still not a guaranteed “yes” vote for the Biden plan until she’s assured that other concessions weren’t made to Republicans ahead of forthcoming negotiations over raising the federal debt ceiling.
Senior aides had predicted the measure would pass the House with bipartisan support, but House leaders have not guaranteed passage, and it remained unclear when a vote might be held.
A GOP leadership aide said no decisions about when or whether to hold a vote were likely until much later in the day. “The purpose of this meeting is to review what the Senate has passed, discuss potential options and seek member feedback,” the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal thinking, said via e-mail. “No decision on the path forward is expected before another member meeting that will be held later today.”
After the Senate approved the legislation in a highly unusual New Year’s morning vote, it moved to the Republican-controlled House, where some members said they were eager to learn the details but were deeply uncomfortable with the measure.
Video
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) criticized the “fiscal cliff” deal on the Senate floor early Tuesday morning. Harkin was one of eight Senators who voted against the bill.
More fiscal cliff coverage
Post PoliticsLIVE BLOG | From the Senate floor to the White House, stay with us for updates on negotiations.
Chris Cillizza THE FIX | The best and the worst of the fiscal cliff talks.
Ezra Klein WONKBOOK | So you spent New Year's celebrating with your friends rather than following the twists and turns in the Senate. Shame on you. Well, we'll catch you up.
David A. Fahrenthold and Ed O’Keefe Vice president, Senate minority leader struck late deals in 2010 tax-cut fight, 2011 debt-ceiling crisis.
Zachary A. Goldfarb With end of payroll tax holiday, 2013 bill will rise regardless of “fiscal cliff” resolution.
Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), walking into the first of two closed-door meetings of GOP House members, said the bill violated President Obama’s pledge to present a “balanced deal....This raises taxes AND raises spending.’’
Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio), an ally of House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said he will urge his colleagues to amend the deal. “We should not take a package put together by a bunch of octogenarians on New Year’s Eve,” he said, referring to Vice President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who personally crafted the agreement.
But Rep. Tom Cole (R-Olka.), another Boehner ally, said he believed the bill will get enough GOP votes to pass, noting the strong support of Senate Republicans.
The closed-door meetings are the first chance for the House to review the agreement, which primarily targets taxpayers who earn more than $450,000 per year, raising their rates for wages and investment profits. At the same time, the deal would protect more than 100 million households earning less than $250,000 a year from income tax increases scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.
The deal came together barely three hours before the midnight deadline, after negotiators cleared two final hurdles involving the estate tax and automatic spending cuts set to affect the Pentagon and other federal agencies this week.
Republicans gave in on the spending cuts, known as sequestration, by agreeing to a two-month delay in budget reductions that would be paid for in part with new tax revenue, a condition they had resisted. And the White House made a major concession on the estate tax, agreeing to terms that would permit estates worth as much as $15 million to escape taxation by the end of the decade, Democrats said.
On the Democratic side, Biden was meeting with House members to personally sell the deal, as he had done to Senators on New Year’s Eve. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) emerged briefly from the meeting and said the Vice President Biden is providing a lengthy “point-by-point presentation.’’
Lee said she’s still not a guaranteed “yes” vote for the Biden plan until she’s assured that other concessions weren’t made to Republicans ahead of forthcoming negotiations over raising the federal debt ceiling.
Senior aides had predicted the measure would pass the House with bipartisan support, but House leaders have not guaranteed passage, and it remained unclear when a vote might be held.
A GOP leadership aide said no decisions about when or whether to hold a vote were likely until much later in the day. “The purpose of this meeting is to review what the Senate has passed, discuss potential options and seek member feedback,” the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal thinking, said via e-mail. “No decision on the path forward is expected before another member meeting that will be held later today.”