Congressional leaders announced Thursday that they've struck a deal to ensure the payroll tax rate does not rise at the beginning of next year, potentially ending a stalemate that had put House Speaker John Boehner in a politically uncomfortable position.

Following a day of political grandstanding by members of both parties, as well as private talks in pursuit of an agreement, Boehner said at a news conference late Thursday that the House plans to vote on a new version of the Senate-passed bill -- which would extend the payroll tax cut for another two months -- despite earlier opposing a short-term extension.

In exchange, the Senate will appoint negotiators who will meet with House lawmakers to next hammer out an extension of the tax cut for the rest of 2012.

The deal still has to clear both chambers, and rank-and-file Republicans already are expressing concern about the terms Boehner outlined.

House Democrats tried Wednesday to force a vote on the Senate’s two-month extension of the payroll-tax cut, but Republicans gaveled the House closed to prevent them from having a chance, as top GOP leaders huddled down the hall to try to figure a way out of the mess.

The House was set to hold a pro forma session, but two top Democrats, Reps. Steny H. Hoyer and Chris Van Hollen, demanded to be recognized to try to force a vote on the two-month extension. House Republicans have blocked that deal, which is strongly backed by President Obama, and are holding out for an extension that covers all of 2012.

Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican who was serving as the presiding officer, banged his gavel to close the session Wednesday morning even as the two Democrats were demanding to be recognized.

“You’re walking out, you’re walking away, just as so many Republicans have walked away from middle-class taxpayers,,” Mr. Hoyer shouted after Mr.

House Republicans defending their opposition to a two-month payroll tax extension are pointing to a letter sent by a payroll processing trade organization that says even if the bill were made law, it's logistically impossible to make the changes in tax software before the extension expires.

In a letter to the the leaders of the House and Senate Ways and Means committees, the National Payroll Reporting Consortium, whose members serve 1.5 million employers and more than one-third of the private-sector workforce, wrote that the Senate's two-month extension allows "insufficient lead time" to institute changes by Feb. 29.

The group wrote that a shortened deadline could create "substantial problems, confusion and costs affecting a significant percentage of U.S. employers and employees."

According to the proposed law, the two-month extension of a 4.2 percent taxable wage is applied only to the first $18,350 of income.

Racing to meet an end-of-year deadline, House Speaker John A. Boehner said Monday the House will insist on a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut and demanded senators cut short their Christmas vacation, return to Washington and hash out an agreement the old-fashioned way.

“The president has said repeatedly no one should be going on vacation until the work is done. Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have said exactly the same thing,” Mr. Boehner, Ohio Republican, said at a morning press conference.

Mr. Boehner stunned senators and the White House on Sunday when he rejected the bipartisan two-month deal the Senate passed a day earlier, 89-10.

WASHINGTON – The House has passed a $1 trillion-plus catchall budget bill paying for day-to-day operations of 10 Cabinet departments and averting a government shutdown, while Senate talks on renewing a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits reached a critical phase.

The 296-121 vote to approve the spending measure represented a rare moment of bipartisanship in a polarized Capitol. The Senate's top Republican, meanwhile, raised the stakes in the showdown over the payroll tax cut, insisting he won't back a compromise extension unless the bill includes language aimed at forcing construction of a Canada-to-Texas pipeline.

Congress once again is flirting with a partial government shutdown for the third time this year, and Republicans accused Democrats of blocking the critical year-end funding bill in order to use it as leverage in the payroll-tax-cut negotiations.

The current stopgap funding runs out Friday, and while those writing the replacement bill say it’s ready to go, Democratic leaders insisted it’s not done, though they acknowledged it could be wrapped up speedily if all sides wanted to.

“I think we could complete it very quickly if people sat down and focused on what we need to do to get out of here,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat.

Mr. Reid said he will not allow a final full-year spending bill to pass until he and House Republicans work out an extension of the payroll tax cut into 2012.

House Republicans passed their tax cut bill Tuesday, but Senate Republicans objected to voting on that bill Wednesday morning, upping the brinkmanship...

WASHINGTON – Defiant Republicans pushed legislation through the House Tuesday night that would keep alive Social Security payroll tax cuts for some 160 million Americans at President Barack Obama's request -- but also would require construction of a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline that has sparked a White House veto threat.

Passage, on a largely party-line vote of 234-193, sent the measure toward its certain demise in the Democratic-controlled Senate, triggering the final partisan showdown of a remarkably quarrelsome year of divided government.

The legislation "extends the payroll tax relief, extends and reforms unemployment insurance and protects Social Security -- without job-killing tax hikes," Republican House Speaker John Boehner declared after the measure had cleared.

Referring to the controversy over the Keystone XL pipeline, he added, "Our bill includes sensible, bipartisan measures to help the private sector create jobs."

On a long day of finger pointing, however, Ho

The White House said Tuesday it will veto a payroll tax cut extension being prepared by House Republicans, with President Obama insisting the bill also must raise taxes on the wealthy rather than cut government spending.

In a statement of policy, the White House said the bill, which the House will vote on later Tuesday, is a Republican effort at politics rather than a compromise deal.

"This debate should not be about scoring political points. This debate should be about cutting taxes for the middle class," the statement said...

Republicans claimed enough support to push legislation through the House on Tuesday that would continue a payroll tax cut for 160 million workers, a vote that would shift the battleground to a staunchly opposed Senate.

House GOP lawmakers emerged from a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning expressing confidence and daring President Barack Obama and the Democratic-led Senate to oppose them at a time when the economy remains on its knees. The roughly $180 billion bill would also extend unemployment benefits and prevent deep cuts in Medicare payments to doctors.

"You can't be for the middle class" and oppose the tax cuts and job creation the bill contains, said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.

"Mr. President, we can't wait," Cantor said.