WASHINGTON — Capping a year of last-minute, half-loaf legislation, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to extend a payroll tax cut for only two months, with the chamber’s leaders and the White House proclaiming victory, even as they punted into the new year the issue of how to further extend the tax cut and unemployment benefits. 
 
 In an unusual Saturday vote, the Senate approved by an 89-to-10 vote a $33 billion package that would extend a payroll-tax holiday for millions of American workers, extend unemployment benefits and avoid cuts in payments to doctors who accept Medicare. The measure would be effective through February, when Congress could again be locked in battle over whether and how to extend those provisions. 
 
 The legislation — should it get through the House — mirrors a series of 11th-hour deals devised by the 112th Congress that appeared to solve an impending crisis, but simply pushed the issues forward. 
 
 But House passage next week was thrown into serious doubt on Saturday afternoon, when a number of rank-and-file Republicans objected in a conference call with Speaker John A. Boehner, who tried to persuade them that it was good for their party, particularly the provision that would speed the decision process for construction of an oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast known as Keystone XL. Just a week ago, President Obama had threatened to veto that provision. 
 
 “I think the American people are not going to be too pleased about this,” said Representative Tom Graves of Georgia. “I would say it has a very steep uphill fight in our conference. It’s a joke.” 
 
 Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina complained: “The House has capitulated to the Senate too often this year, in our judgment. It is time to stand on principle and fight. And if that means spending Christmas away from home, others have sacrificed far more than that for principle.” 
 
 Some other Republican conference leaders, including the House majority leader, Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, also criticized of the two-month extension. 
 
 Many House Republicans dislike the payroll tax cut holiday because it takes money away from the Social Security trust fund, which then must be reimbursed with general fund dollars. They also objected that several policy riders that they and conservative voters hold dear had been stripped out. 
 
 Mr. Obama acknowledged Saturday that a two-month extension would mean Democrats and Republicans could be fighting the same fight again in February. In remarks before the White House press corps, the president said that next year’s vote should be a “formality,” and that he expected that Congress would accomplish his goal of a one-year extension “with as little drama as possible when they come back next month.” 
 
 Any thought that Congress will agree on a yearlong tax-cut extension or on the other provisions is extremely optimistic, given that its work will overlap with Mr. Obama’s State of the Union speech, the heat of the Republican primaries and a presidential campaign hitting full stride. 
 
 Republicans, seizing on the deficit-cutting mantra they heard from the voters who helped them gain sweeping control of the House in 2010, spent much of the last year successfully pushing for vast spending cuts and maintaining the Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans, including the wealthy. Now, the dynamic has shifted somewhat, with a nearly equal focus in the nation on income disparity, an issue Democrats believe they can seize on. “I think we will be on higher and higher ground,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the third-ranking Senate Democrat, “because the focus in 2012 is going to be on the middle class.” 
 
 Continuing another theme of this Congress, Republican leaders — but not necessarily their rank and file — had wanted a full-year payroll tax cut deal to try to inoculate themselves against accusations by Democrats, as they head into an election year, that they are against tax cuts for low- and middle-income workers. It will be up to Mr. Boehner to convince his members that extending the cut — and at least appearing to work with Democrats even as they labor to unseat Mr. Obama and the Democrats who still control the Senate — will ultimately work in their political favor. 
 
 Mr. Obama, in agreeing to a two-month fix, is betting that Congress, in an election year, will not want to run the political risk of raising taxes. 
 
 During a briefing with reporters Saturday, senior administration officials repeatedly referred to Congress’s low approval ratings with American voters, saying that it would be political suicide for Republicans to turn around next February and not extend the tax cut. “You’ve got to look at the forest,” one senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under guidelines established by the White House before the briefing. “The forest remains that these guys have a weak economy, and they’re going to be running next year.” 
 
 Despite Mr. Obama’s veto threat of any legislation that tried to tie approval of the Keystone pipeline to the payroll tax-cut extension, White House officials said they were sanguine that at the end of the day, Mr. Obama would not find himself forced to fast-track the pipeline. 
 
 The State Department has already put off a decision on Keystone pending changes in the route and further environmental reviews, and has indicated that any attempts to hasten the project will most likely result in its disapproval, a warning White House officials gleefully repeated time and again on Saturday. 
 
 Still, for Mr. Obama, the Keystone project now remains tied to the payroll-tax cut extension, which puts the president at risk in an election year of appearing to coddle the environmental groups who form part of his Democratic base at the expense of the 160 million Americans who the White House says would benefit from continuing the tax cut. 
 
 Mr. Obama’s aides said Saturday that he was delaying his departure for Christmas vacation in Hawaii until what had been expected to be next week’s House vote on the two-month payroll tax extension. If Republican leaders cannot quell a rebellion by their rank-and file, that could also be delayed. But the threat of a government shutdown was averted Saturday when the Senate gave final passage to a $1 trillion bill to finance the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security and other agencies. ||||| The Senate on Saturday morning approved a two-month extension of a payroll tax break and jobless benefits, easily passing a year-end legislative package that also forces President Barack Obama to make a controversial decision on a major oil pipeline in the thick of his reelection campaign. 
 
 By an 89-10 vote, senators approved the $33 billion plan as part of a final round of action that will conclude an acrimonious year of legislating in the divided Congress. Seven Republicans, one independent and two Democrats voted against the plan. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) missed the vote because he was attending his niece’s wedding in Texas. 
 
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 The House is expected to take up the proposal in the coming days, where some top Republicans have voiced concern about a short-term extension. 
 
 Speaking at the White House, Obama signaled he would sign the short-term deal but said it would be “inexcusable for Congress not to further extend this middle-class tax cut for the rest of the year.” 
 
 “It should be a formality,” he told reporters. “And hopefully it’s done with as little drama as possible when they get back in January.” 
 
 The vote came moments after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) conceded that senators did not have an official estimate of the plan, an admission that served to underscore the frantic nature of the talks and the much-criticized legislative process employed by this Congress. The Congressional Budget Office later said it would reduce the deficit by $3 billion over the next decade. 
 
 Extending the 4.2 percent payroll tax holiday is one of Obama’s top priorities because it would ensure many families don’t pay on average an extra $1,000 a year in taxes next year. The proposal also would avert a scheduled 27 percent pay decrease for physicians serving Medicare patients, extend jobless benefits for millions of Americans and a welfare program. They will be paid for by increasing guarantee fees for 10 years on mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 
 
 The two-month extension of the payroll tax holiday would cost the government $20.4 billion in lost revenue; unemployment benefits costs $8.3 billion; and the so-called “doc fix” costs $4.1 billion. The new Fannie and Freddie fees cut the deficit by $35.7 billion. 
 
 The provisions are slated to expire on Feb. 29, ensuring that Congress will fight again over these programs after it returns from its scheduled holiday recess. 
 
 “Getting two months is a lot better than zero which is what some people in here wanted,” said Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), gesturing at the Senate chamber. 
 
 But not everyone was happy. 
 
 Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who voted against the plan, said he was “furious and disgusted” at the two-month extension, saying the Social Security trust fund shouldn’t be used to pay for the break and that punting a problem for another two months is emblematic of Washington’s inability to solve tough problems. 
 
 “I think we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul, and we don’t have any money to pay Peter back,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). “That bothers me a lot.” 
 
 In a significant concession, Democrats agreed to a provision that would force the administration to make a decision on permitting the Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days. He can choose not to permit the project if he determines it’s not in the national interest. 
 
 The administration has said it needs more time to review the project, which has split his labor and environmentalist base and united Republicans and industry groups.
– No last-minute surprises in the Senate: The chamber easily passed legislation this morning that will keep the payroll tax cut in place for another two months, reports Politico. The framework of the deal, which also extends jobless benefits, had been ironed out last night. It sailed through today on a vote of 89-10. The House will take it up next week, and Senate aides tell the Hill that John Boehner will likely back the measure, but he won't do so publicly until he briefs members. As expected, the legislation also includes a Republican provision to step up pressure on President Obama over the proposed Keystone oil pipeline. It calls for a quick decision from the White House, even though Obama had hoped to put off that call until after the 2012 elections. Democratic aides tell the New York Times that the short deadline actually gives Obama a handy excuse to reject the pipeline proposal because the State Department won't have time to conduct the necessary review. (Later, the Senate passed a $1 trillion budget bill as expected, notes AP; it had already cleared the House.)