WASHINGTON (AP) — Aides to participants in House-Senate talks on renewing President Barack Obama's signature payroll tax cut say negotiators have made significant progress and that an agreement could come as early as Tuesday.
A Democratic aide said there are just a couple of "lingering issues" and that negotiators are "getting closer and closer." The aide required anonymity to assess the private negotiations.
The negotiations have intensified after House GOP leaders dropped a demand that the $100 billion or so cost of renewing the 2 percentage point cut in the Social Security payroll tax be defrayed with spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.
But negotiators still need to find savings to pay for the $30 billion cost of renewing jobless benefits and $20 billion price for fixing a Medicare payment formula for doctors.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.