When they have the incentive of a holiday vacation, Congress can work quite efficiently. For example, the House had passed a $622 billion tax plan by mid-day Thursday, and expects to vote on the omnibus spending bill to keep government open first thing Friday morning.
The "tax extenders" bill was approved in a 318-109 vote, with 241 Republicans joining 77 Democrats in backing the measure.
Only 3 Republicans voted against the bill, which permanently renews a range of tax provisions following years of short-term extensions while extending other tax breaks through 2016 or 2019.
Keeping things humming along, Mitch McConnell announced a time agreement for the Senate to wrap up work on the two bills Friday.
The agreement sets up the Senate to finish its work on Friday afternoon. Under the deal, the tax package and omnibus—which are being moved simultaneously in the Senate to save time—could face up to three procedural votes and then final passage.
Senate Republicans had previously suggested they would try to move the legislation on Friday.
"Nobody, I think, sees any benefit of stringing this out any longer than necessary, so my hope is that we'll be able to conclude this Friday," Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the chamber's Republican whip, told reporters.
Apparently Sen. Ted Cruz's sidekick, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) decided he didn't want to be the new least popular person in the Senate. He had made some noise about forcing a delay in the spending bill until next year but clearly decided against that, since the agreement has been reached.