President Barack Obama marked a rare political victory over Republican leaders in Congress – who bowed to White House demands on Friday for a short-term extension to tax reductions for working Americans – by calling for the measure to be applied to the rest of 2012 "without drama, without delay".
After defiantly refusing to approve the two-month extension to the employment tax break and unemployment benefits, Republican leaders backed down in the face of rising public frustration at the prospect of a sharp tax increase on 1 January.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the bill quickly on a voice vote on Friday, with no visible protest from Republican members who had threatened to derail the measure.
"I said it was critical for Congress not to go home without preventing a tax increase," said Obama before beginning his delayed Christmas holiday in Hawaii.
If the measure had not passed, about 160 million Americans would have been hit by a tax increase. The White House said the average family would pay $1,000 a year more.
But a fresh battle looms early next year when a joint panel from the House and the Senate will negotiate an extension for the rest of 2012.
Obama called on Congress to avoid the bitter wrangling that marked the run up to Friday's vote.
"You didn't send us to this town to play partisan games, to see who's up and who's down," he said. "We have a lot more work to do. This continues to be a make or break moment for the middle class in this country."
The Republican speaker of the House, John Boehner, had refused to agree to the two-month extension under pressure from sections of his own party, particularly members of Congress aligned with the Tea Party movement, who wanted to immediately begin talks on the year-long agreement tied to spending cuts. But negotiations on the cuts were likely to last well in to the new year while the tax increase kicked in.
But, in a clear victory for Obama and Democrats, Boehner backed down as public opinion swung sharply against his party on the issue. Some Republican leaders feared that if taxes went up in January it would be a blow to their party's chances of beating Obama in next year's presidential election.
During a conference call with reporters on Thursday afternoon, five days after the initial insurrection was launched, Boehner announced his decision. "This may not have been politically the smartest thing in the world, but I'm going to tell you what, I think our members waged a good fight," he told reporters after the call, according to the Washington Post.
After the bill passed, Harry Reid, the Democratic party leader in the Senate, chastised the more militant Republican members of Congress for seeking confrontation over agreement. He said that "everything we do around here does not have to end up in a fight."
"I hope this Congress has had a very good learning experience, especially those who are new to this body," Reid said. "I would hope the new members of the House understand legislation is the art of compromise, consensus building."