Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced that a fiscal-cliff deal is “very, very close” and that there is bipartisan agreement on all the tax issues. The GOP leader is now pressing to have the Senate to vote on the tax aspect of the deal as soon as possible and take up the spending issues later.
It’s unlikely McConnell would have made such a statement if he didn’t feel comfortable that he had enough votes in the Senate.
There is no word on when a Senate vote would take place or if such a deal could pass the House. However, CNN reports a House vote will likely not come before the midnight deadline due to procedural issues.
National Journal points out that an agreement on tax issues only sets up a series of “mini-cliffs” that Congress will have to deal with in the coming months.
For the very latest, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times have nice tickers.
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