President Obama signed a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut Friday, according to a senior administration official.
Both chambers of Congress earlier Friday passed an amended version of the extension, handing Democrats a hard-fought victory on an issue -- taxes -- that has historically been won by their Republican counterparts.
The measure cleared the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives by unanimous consent, a procedural move allowing the measure to pass even though most members of Congress are now home for the holidays.
The $33 billion measure also includes a two-month extension of emergency federal unemployment benefits and the so-called "doc fix," a delay in scheduled pay cuts to Medicare physicians.
House and Senate members will resume negotiations on a year-long extension of the tax cut -- along with a lengthier unemployment benefits extension and doc fix -- when Congress reconvenes in January.
Political analysts believe the showdown over the payroll holiday extension has eroded Republican strength on the party's core issue of lower taxes. While GOP leaders first questioned the merit of the tax holiday and then complained that a short-term extension would be more trouble than it's worth, Obama used the standoff to portray the Republicans as defenders of the rich with a callous attitude toward the burdens of the middle class.
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