House to Vote on Payroll Tax Cut Deal by Week's End: Boehner

A deal on extending a payroll tax cut to the end of 2012 has reportedly been reached, House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday.

With the tax cut slated to end by March, the speaker is planning to hold a vote on the extension by the end of the week, Reuters reported. Rep. Kevin MCarthy, the Republican whip, told Reuters that there will be enough votes in the House to pass the measure once a negotiating panel signs off on extension.

The tentative deal was reached a day after House Republican leadership dropped their plan to pay for the $100 billion payroll tax cut with reductions in federal spending. Instead, Boehner Tuesday offered to extend the tax cut without offsetting the cost.

A deal on the payroll tax cut will also cover unemployment insurance benefits and a doc fix that will prevent cuts in Medicare payments to doctors. House-Senate negotiators are hammering out the details on paying for the package.

Democrats were able to prevent a large reduction in the amount of time unemployment benefits are available to the jobless, while Republicans were able to get changes in federal pensions, The New York Times reported.