Congress

Officials say Democratic lawmakers are considering whether to jettison their demand for a surtax on millionaires as a way of covering the cost of a Social Security payroll tax cut extension.

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The House has passed a massive $662 billion defense bill after last-minute changes ensured President Barack Obama's ability to prosecute terrorist suspects in the civilian justice system.

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The Senate has wrapped itself into a partisan tangle over its year-end tax and spending business.

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Republicans are girding to push a bill through the House that would continue a payroll tax cut for 160 million workers, but has drawn White House and Democratic objections because it would also force work on a controversial oil pipeline.

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House Speaker John Boehner is predicting that the House will approve legislation that renews a payroll tax cut and curtails extra benefits for the long-term unemployed.

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Top House Republicans hope to win rank-and-file GOP support for a measure renewing this year's Social Security payroll tax cut and extending benefits for the long-term unemployed.

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The Senate has blocked a Democratic plan to tax the rich to pay for President Barack Obama's plan to renew -- and make more generous -- a payroll tax cut due to expire at the end of the month.

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The U.S. Senate is expected to vote tomorrow on the Middle Class Tax Act, which would expand and extend the payroll tax cut, putting more than $2,000 back into the pocket of the average New Jersey family next year.  Jersey U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is a co-sponsor of the bill.

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A breakdown in high-stakes budget talks in Congress could have a wide ranging impact and threaten plans for a missile defense shield in Europe.

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Congressional Republicans and Democrats struggled Wednesday to salvage a yearlong assault on federal deficits, their efforts hampered by politically-charged disagreements over taxes and the future of enormously expensive government benefit programs.

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