House votes to instruct members on payroll tax deal

The hour-long debate on the motion quickly devolved into a partisan fight over who is to blame for last year’s dispute over how to extend the payroll tax holiday and other provisions in the bill.

Democrats argued that conferees need a deal before the end of February in order to avoid what they said could be more economic uncertainty caused by another last-minute agreement. Democrats argued that efforts by House Republicans to push for a longer-term extension in late December created anxiety about whether the payroll tax holiday would be extended at all, and was one of many last-minute agreements last year.

“It led to a great deal of uncertainty about everything from tax policy to whether or not America would pay its debts,” Capps said on the House floor.

Republicans in December put forward a longer-term extension that was paid for through cuts to federal spending, and spent a few days in late December calling for the Senate to return to hold negotiations based on that bill. The GOP eventually accepted the two-month extension offered by the Senate when the Senate refused to return to Washington.

In defense of that strategy, Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) noted repeatedly today that House Republicans favor reaching an agreement as quickly as possible, and that House Republicans were the ones willing to work on a longer-term agreement last year.

“A lot of it had to do with the fact that the Senate ran out of time, and they reverted to classic, old political ways of doing business — passing legislation at 3 o’clock, 2 o’clock in the morning, waiting until the last minute, and putting forth a product that only allowed us to kick the can two months down the road,” Reed said. “We can do better, we need to do better, and the proposal that came out of this chamber was a start in that right direction.”