Congressional renewal of some of President Bush’s expiring tax breaks hit a snag yesterday, as the White House insisted on a five-year extension. Republicans in the House and Senate had planned on enacting a two-year extension. The administration’s request has made it highly unlikely that any tax-cut extension will be passed before the August recess begins on Friday. Top Senate tax-writer Charles Grassely (R-Iowa) said the chances of a bill passing were about “10 percent.” A spokesman for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R- Illinois) said that further work would have to wait until September. Republicans had intended to use a conference bill on the child tax credit extension (HR 1308) as their vehicle to prolong a wide-range of the president’s tax cutting measures.

Democrats charged that Republican’s failure to agree on the duration of a tax-cut extension was yet another example of GOP factions fighting amongst themselves. Some Republicans are calling for revenue offsets that would neutralize the impact of any measure on the deficit.