House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday that he opposed a bill passed by the Senate to extend the payroll tax cut through February, and would likely propose another version of the extension Monday.
The upper house of Congress passed the bill 89-10 in a rare Saturday session as both chambers finish up year-end business. The Senate version of the bill amends an earlier House bill to prolong the tax cut, along with other benefits, for two months.
The Senate version still includes an increase of guarantee fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, upping the rate by at least 10 basis points in the first two years. Fees last year averaged about 0.25% of the loan amount.
The increase would offset about $35.7 billion in costs through 2021, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office.
David Stevens, CEO of the mortgage Bankers Association, wrote on Twitter that the g-fee increase is "not justifiable," and to "never tax homeownership for dysfunctional tax efforts again."
The Senate proposal also leaves in a provision on the Keystone XL pipeline that would run from Canada to the southern United States. The bill would require President Obama to make a decision within 60 days on the project.
White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement Sunday that Congress should pass the two-month extension for now, but continue work on a yearlong version.
"If House Republicans refuse to pass this bipartisan bill to extend the payroll tax cut, there will be a significant tax increase on 160 million hardworking Americans in 13 days that would damage the economy and job growth," Pfeiffer said.
The House version of the bill, which passed Tuesday, originally extended the programs through the end of 2012.
The National Association of Realtors will release its November existing home sales figures Wednesday. The trade group, however, will also announce revisions made to its sales figures dating back to 2007.
The expected adjustments come after data firm CoreLogic (CLGX: 12.37 +0.57%) said in February that NAR's 2010 were at least 15% too high. NAR said the "rebenchmarking" is a normal process and not brought on by CoreLogic's belief that NAR overstated the sales numbers.
NAR attributed its overestimation to shifts in population, duplicate listings and a decline in for-sale-by-owner transactions.
In other housing data, the Census Bureau will release its November housing starts figures Tuesday and idx sales Friday. October housing starts increased 17.7% from last year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 653,000, while new home sales rose 8.9% from October 2010 to the annual rate of 307,000.
The Commerce Department will release its final third-quarter GDP figure as well Thursday. Last month's second estimate for the third quarter bumped an earlier 2.5% annualized increase down to 2%.
The Senate postponed until next year Obama's nominations for several positions, including Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to Reuters.
Senate Democrats failed to move Cordray's nomination past a Republican filibuster on a 53-45 vote on Dec. 8.
Other nominees in legislative limbo include Martin Gruenberg as chair and Thomas Hoenig as vice chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and Thomas Curry to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The Senate said it will hold several "pro forma sessions," or brief meetings, between now and Jan. 23, the expected legislative resume date, in order to block recess appointments by Obama.
Wells Fargo (WFC: 25.765 -0.83%) spent $1.97 million to lobby the federal government in the third quarter, much of it regarding changes coming from the Dodd-Frank Act, according to the Associated Press. That figure increased from $1.18 million a year ago and equaled second-quarter totals.
The figures were disclosed in a report filed Oct. 20 with the House clerk's office. The disclosure also said the company lobbied Congress, the Treasury Department and the Federal Housing finance Agency, among other agencies. Wells Fargo lobbied the government on debit card fees and new mortgage-related rules, as well as data privacy and small-business lending.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced Friday the failures of two banks, Phoenix-based Western National Bank and Premier Community Bank of the Emerald Coast in Crestview, Fla. Washington Federal acquired Western National, and Summit Bank absorbed Premier Community Bank.
Ninety-two banks have failed in 2011.
Write to Andrew Scoggin.
Follow him on Twitter @ascoggin.
