WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Republicans in the Senate blocked a Democratic bid on Wednesday to quickly reject a bill passed by the House of Representatives that would renew a payroll tax cut and speed up a decision on an oil pipeline that the White House has delayed.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said he wanted to dispose of the bill, approved on a mostly party-line vote by the Republican-led House on Tuesday, to clear the way for talks on a compromise deal.
But Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell blocked the move to immediately bring up the bill, saying he wanted to turn first to a funding bill that would avert a government shutdown by the weekend.
In an exchange on the Senate floor, Reid objected to McConnell's move, insisting the payroll tax bill first be considered.
Democrats are worried that once the spending bill is finalized, Republicans will leave town for the holidays, eliminating any pressure on them to compromise on the payroll measure, which would also extend expiring jobless benefits.
Republicans have accused Democrats of manufacturing a crisis by refusing to sign off on the $1 trillion spending bill they had already broadly agreed to.
The next steps were not immediately clear.
(Reporting By Thomas Ferraro; Editing by John O'Callaghan)
china aircraft carrier barbara walters most fascinating person 2011 unclaimed money blake griffin clippers golden globe nominations los angeles clippers
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.