Obama said he intends to sit down with the new Republican House leadership as well as Republican and Democratic leaders on both sides of the Capitol within the next few weeks to work out an agreement where “we can mix and match ideas and find areas to agree on to move forward on those and over the next year solidify the recovery.” 

There is growing feeling that lawmakers won’t be able to complete a deal on extending any of the tax cuts until next year, meaning they would temporarily expire for everyone. 

The White House has consistently advocated for an extension of middle-class tax cuts for workers who make $250,000 a year or less while allowing tax cuts to expire for those in higher tax brackets. 

Republicans are adamant about extending all the tax cuts, and they have some support from Democrats in the House and the Senate.