Congress is bracing for a final fight over fiscal policy this year, with the fate of a payroll tax cut for 160 million U.S. workers on the line, after House Republicans balked at a deal worked out in the Senate.

The House of Representatives returns to Washington today to either change a Senate-passed bill extending the tax cut through February or seek a House-Senate meeting to resolve differences between the two chambers. The Senate passed its plan by 89-10 two days ago. The 2-percentage- point cut in the payroll tax will expire Dec. 31 if Congress doesn't agree to extend it.

"Two months is just kicking the can down the road," House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday. "The American people are tired of that. I think — frankly, I'm tired of it."