A plan to vote separately on tax cuts for the middle class has 'been on the table,' Steny Hoyer said. House Dems set Thursday tax vote

The second-ranking House Democrat said that the House will vote on extending the bulk of tax cuts Thursday, and has considered tying upper-rate extensions to a vote on unemployment insurance.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Wednesday that the plan to lump the two divisive measures together has “been on the table,” even though he signaled that he is not in favor of it.


The bulk of the tax cuts — for lower and middle-class incomes — will be considered in a separate vote on Thursday. Democrats have long sought to only renew tax breaks for households under $250,000 in income, but Republicans have insisted on an extension of current tax rates for everyone.

Hoyer’s comments signal that some Democrats have tried to figure out a way to thread the needle, giving their party a vote on the middle class tax cuts, while pairing the upper income tax cuts with an extension of unemployment on a completely separate vote.

“I believe that passing unemployment insurance is a moral imperative, not a political deal,” Hoyer told reporters in the Capitol. “We have millions of American families who are without the resources to have any confidence they can put food on the table the next day. That they can pay the rent, get gasoline in their car so they can go look for a job. I think that making a political deal on unemployment insurance is not what America ought to be about.”

House Democrats last week attempted to pass an extension of unemployment insurance on suspension of the rules — which requires a two-thirds majority to pass. It appears that the House would easily be able to pass an extension of the benefits under regular House rules, which require a simple majority. Hoyer said Democrats may try to pass unemployment benefits under “some process” — signaling that they are considering other avenues.

The vote to permanently extend the middle-income tax rates would come Thursday. This comes even as the White House is negotiating with Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the Capitol dome. And a day after President Barack Obama induced a truce over heated rhetoric between the two sides, Hoyer accused the Republicans of holding the middle class hostage for the richest Americans. Republicans have said they wouldn’t extend just the middle-class tax rates if the measure didn’t include the upper-bracket rates.

“It is a shame that what we have agreement on is being held hostage by that on which we do not have agreement,” Hoyer said.

Democrats will bring the bill to the floor under a rule, providing strict parameters for debate. Hoyer signaled, though, that Democrats will not provide Republicans with a motion to recommit, a legislative tactic which the GOP would likely use to try to extend the upper-bracket tax rates.