With President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner still seemingly so far apart on negotiations to avoid the fiscal cliff, it’s possible that Congress will be forced to work up to Christmas Eve and then come back before the New Year.
In the last two weeks, the House has met for a total of four and a half days before considering the possibility of remaining in session beyond Friday when this Congress is set to end, according to the
Washington Post.
“Members are advised that due to the ongoing negotiations regarding the fiscal cliff, a weekend session is possible, and therefore last votes for the week are not yet known,” Cantor said.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi questioned why Congress was only working two-day weeks with so much going on, from negotiations over the imminent fiscal cliff, to the debt ceiling debate and others.
“Here we are, 18 days from a possible fiscal cliff (hopefully not), 12 days until Christmas, and here we are once again having a two-day work week in the Congress of the United States,” Pelosi said. “Two two-day work weeks in a row. This is just not right.”
Boehner said Obama was dragging his feet in cutting a deal with Republicans, and that he was waiting out the Congressional session to push the country over the cliff.
“The White House is so unserious about cutting spending, it appears willing to slow walk any agreement and walk our economy right up to the fiscal cliff,” Boehner said.