Republican Congressional Leaders Expect Deal on Payroll Tax

(REUTERS) -- Top Republican lawmakers said Sunday they expect to forge a deal with Democrats to extend the payroll tax cut before it expires at the end of February but offered no specifics on how they would pay for it.

I'm confident that we'll be able to resolve this fairly quickly, House Speaker John Boehner, D-Ohio, said on ABC's This Week.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have started negotiating a deal to extend a tax break for 160 million Americans beyond February. If they fail, the payroll tax, which funds Social Security, will revert to a 6.2 percent from 4.2 percent levy for workers.

There is broad agreement on doing the payroll tax holiday through the end of the year ... The problem is paying for it, said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on CNN's State of the Union.

(Democrats) just don't want to cut any spending. That is what made it problematic. But we will get it done. We will get it done before the end of February, he said.

Disagreements over how to pay for the tax break hampered lawmakers efforts to extend it until the end of this year. Democrats had proposed a surtax on millionaires and Republicans had proposed cutting salaries and benefits for federal workers.

In the end, lawmakers agreed to hike fees the government's mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge lenders to guarantee new loans over a 10-year period.

McConnell said he did not know what the payroll tax cut deal would eventually look like.

(Reporting by Kim Dixon, Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Sandra Maler)