The House passed a bill Tuesday night that would extend the current payroll tax cut. The vote was 234 to 193, with 10 Democrats voting with the GOP majority, and 14 Republicans "switching sides." This bill also cuts the maximum length of unemployment benefits from 99 weeks to 59 weeks, repeals certain provisions of last year's health care law, changes the way Medicare pays doctors, removes certain environmental regulations, and allows construction of Keystone XL oil pipeline.
In the Senate, Democrats and Republicans have put forth different versions of a payroll tax bill over the last couple of weeks, with none of them garnering enough votes to pass. Majority Democrats got 50 votes for a plan that would pay for the payroll tax cut with a "millionaire surtax" on the highest income earners. But with 60 votes needed to move forward in the Senate, that plan fell short.