Administration Gets Behind Tentative Payroll Tax Cut Deal

The Obama administration says it is willing to accept a tentative Senate deal to extend a Social Security tax cut and unemployment benefits, even though the extension is only for two months.

A senior administration official also says that a provision requiring a swift decision on a Canada-to-Texas pipeline would almost certainly result in President Barack Obama denying the permit for the project.

The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the deal.

The official says Obama's top priority was avoiding a tax increase on 160 million workers when the payroll tax cut was scheduled to expire at the end of this year. The official said the deal met that test.