In under an hour on Friday, the House and Senate dispensed with weeks of partisan bickering, passing a bill to ensure a two-month extension of a payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits for millions of Americans.
The fight over how and whether to pass an extension was settled Thursday afternoon, when House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio agreed — against the will of many of the chamber’s most conservative members — to a Senate bill to extend the benefits for two months while a longer deal was hammered out.
The legislative day began at 9:30 on Friday, when Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, addressed the presiding officer, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, who was decked out in his Christmas tie. Mr. Reid asked for unanimous consent to extend the payroll tax, unemployment benefits and to maintain the fee levels for doctors who accept Medicare. The bill also called for Democrats to appoint conferees to a bicameral committee to come up with a longer-term measure, a request from the House Republicans.
Without objection, it was so ordered, and, a minute after Mr. Reid began speaking, the gavel was down and the Senate — void of the other 98 Senators — recessed for the day. The Senate will still be in pro forma sessions through Jan. 23, when it resumes regular business.
The action next moved to the House, where Mr. Boehner, in a rare pro forma appearance in the chair, presided over the passage of the bill in his chamber, after a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, a roughly five-minute process.
For Mr. Reid, addressing his empty chamber was a bit of a victory lap, one he completed moments later in a news conference.
“I hope this Congress has had a very good learning experience,” Mr. Reid said. “Especially for those members who are newer to this body.”
For Mr. Boehner, who has suffered through weeks of trying to get his conference on board with a compromise, presiding over his chamber was almost the opposite exercise. He played the role of calling for objections — there were none, even though a Republican or two dotted the chamber — on a bill many of his members dislike but did not fly back from their states to protest, sparing a junior member of the task.
As beaming Democrats like Representatives Chris Van Hollen and Steny H. Hoyer, both of Maryland, looked on from behind a microphone stand on the Democratic side of the House and Republicans staffers glowered from the chairs in the chamber, Mr. Boehner recessed the chamber for the day.
Mr. Reid later announced his appointees to the conference committee: Senator Max Baucus of Montana, who is chairman of the Senate finance committee; Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island; Senator Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland and Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.
Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader, also named her appointees: Representative Sander M. Levin of Michigan; Mr. Van Hollen; Representative Xavier Becerra and Representative Henry A. Waxman both of California and Allyson Y. Schwartz of Pennsylvania.
The conferees are expected to begin meeting during the winter break.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=abf852be41178c2fbfe9c03f1c64fa84