Washington (CNN) -- Another Washington political showdown took shape Tuesday as the House of Representatives passed a Republican plan that would extend the payroll tax cut and speed the process for government approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. 
 
 The bill, approved on a 234-193 vote largely on party lines, now goes to the Senate, where it was unlikely to pass due to strong opposition from Democratic leaders. And the White House says President Barack Obama will veto the plan if it reaches his desk, setting up further brinksmanship with Congress scheduled to leave Washington for its holiday recess at the end of the week. 
 
 "This Congress needs to do its job and stop the tax hike that's scheduled to affect 160 million Americans in 18 days," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement after the vote. "This is not a time for Washington Republicans to score political points against the president." 
 
 The impasse involves a convergence of major issues, including the payroll tax-cut extension and a spending bill that must pass in order to keep the government funded after Friday. 
 
 Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, agreed that Congress must not go home for the holidays without extending the payroll tax cut that saves working Americans an average of $1,000 a year, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. 
 
 Without spelling out a specific order of necessary steps, Carney made clear that Obama wants Congress to approve both a payroll tax plan and the broad government spending bill. 
 
 Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky characterized the Democratic stance as a threat to delay action on the spending plan until a compromise is reached on the payroll tax cut measure. That could cause a government shutdown after Friday, McConnell warned. 
 
 Carney, however, insisted that Congress has plenty of time to act on all of the outstanding measures, and called for a payroll tax extension free of the pipeline provision. 
 
 Earlier, Speaker John Boehner and other House Republican leaders told reporters that the payroll tax measure to be voted on later in the day had bipartisan support and would create jobs while also preventing a tax increase for American workers next year. When the vote came, 10 Democrats joined 224 Republicans voting for the bill, while 14 Republicans joined 179 Democrats voting against it. 
 
 Asked about opposition by Senate Democrats who say they will reject the House measure, Boehner said: "The Senate will have to do whatever they have to do." 
 
 The pipeline, which is currently in limbo as the State Department considers objections from environmentalists, would bring oil from Canada's oil sands in northern Alberta to Texas. 
 
 More on the pipeline showdown 
 
 The State Department recently said its decision on the Keystone XL pipeline would be delayed until 2013 to allow examination of environmental issues raised by critics, a move Republicans labeled as political, to put off the issue until after next year's presidential election. 
 
 House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, said the payroll tax cut measure does exactly what Obama has been calling for by providing tax protection for working class Americans while creating new jobs through the pipeline project. 
 
 Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, offered a colorful take on what will happen if Reid blocks the House plan, as threatened. 
 
 "If Sen. Reid wants to hold up the jobs bill, he will go on Santa's naughty list," Hensarling said. 
 
 Reid and other Democrats argue the pipeline project requires more study and should not be fast-tracked as part of a political calculation by Republicans. 
 
 On Tuesday, Reid said Republicans must compromise with Democrats instead of trying to push through proposals intended to appease conservatives in their caucus. 
 
 "Speaker Boehner had to add ideological candy coating to his bill to get rebellious, rank-and-file Republicans on board," Reid said, adding: "They are wasting time catering to the tea party when they should be working with Democrats on a bipartisan package that can pass both houses." 
 
 The House GOP proposal would both change the process and shorten the time frame for the government to approve the proposed pipeline from Canada to Texas. 
 
 But Monday, the State Department said that would make it impossible for it to complete needed environmental, national security and safety studies. 
 
 "In the absence of properly completing the process, the department would be unable to make a determination to issue a permit for this project," the State Department said in a written response to questions about the measure. 
 
 Boehner dismissed the State Department's warning later Monday, saying the pipeline had been under review for three years and, "All the work has been done." 
 
 "The only thing arbitrary about this decision is the decision by the president to say, 'Well, let's wait until after the next election,'" Boehner said. "The American people want jobs, and this is as close to a shovel-ready project as you're ever going to see." 
 
 The House GOP measure extends the payroll tax cut for one year and renews aid for the unemployed, while cutting back the maximum length of jobless benefits from the current 99 weeks to 59. 
 
 The bill also allows states more flexibility in distributing unemployment assistance, permitting states to require those applying to submit to drug tests or show they are pursuing a high school degree, if they don't have one. The bill would also avoid a scheduled cut in pay for Medicare physicians for two years, a provision known as the "doc fix." 
 
 To pay for the bill, GOP leaders use a series of spending cuts, including freezing pay for federal employees and members of Congress, eliminating a child tax credit for those in the United States illegally, and increasing Medicare premiums for those who earn more than $80,000 annually. 
 
 The pipeline issue is just one part of the problem for Senate Democrats who disagree with "central elements" of the GOP bill, including the length of the unemployment insurance extension, the proposed cost offsets and the weakening of some environmental regulations. 
 
 Carney said Tuesday the spending cuts go deeper than levels agreed to in August in the deal negotiated by Congress and the White House to raise the federal debt ceiling. 
 
 Democrats led by Obama have been pushing for the payroll tax cut extension; Republicans initially opposed the plan but have now signed on. However, the parties are at loggerheads over how to pay for it as well as the political optics over who should get credit, as an election year approaches. 
 
 As a way to garner support from reluctant conservative Republicans, who voiced concerns about the impact of the payroll tax cut on Social Security, GOP leaders insisted on keeping the provision aimed at moving toward approving the pipeline project within 60 days. 
 
 Senate Democrats have begun working on a new bill of their own after Republicans blocked progress on their previous proposals that included a surtax on income over $1 million. 
 
 Meanwhile, in the other big bill Congress needs to get done before funding expires, House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers told reporters off the House floor Monday that negotiators have worked out a deal on the year-end spending bill that wraps nine remaining bills into one package. 
 
 The Kentucky Republican said there are some "policy riders" in the deal, but he declined to get into any specifics on which ones, saying he wants the staff to finish writing the legislation before he talks about any details. 
 
 But Rogers said it is taking some time to "cross the T's" so the bill would not be posted online Monday night, which puts off the House vote to Thursday at the earliest. Rogers was confident the House would pass the bill, saying, "We'll get it done by" Friday. 
 
 According to two senior House Republican leadership aides, Reid has told Boehner he would hold up the spending bill until both sides negotiate a compromise on the payroll tax cut bill. 
 
 Asked about a potential government shutdown, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland said Congress may need to pass a short-term spending measure to prevent a shutdown if the parties fail to reach agreement on the various unresolved issues, including the extension of both the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. 
 
 Carney also said Tuesday that a continuing resolution on spending is a possible short-term solution to provide more time to work out a deal on the payroll tax measure. 
 
 CNN's Ted Barrett, Kate Bolduan and Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report. ||||| House Republicans unveiled a $1 trillion spending bill setting budgets for hundreds of government programs in a bid to force U.S. lawmakers to wrap up their work for the year. 
 
 Republicans aim to put the more than 1,200-page spending measure to a vote tomorrow, a move designed to give them an advantage in a separate battle with Democrats over extending an expiring payroll tax cut. 
 
 Passing the spending bill would let Republicans leave for their Christmas holiday, increasing pressure on the Democratic-controlled Senate to accept it as well as Republicans’ version of the payroll tax cut. Democrats have been holding up the legislation on concerns that approval would ensure the House recess, forcing them to accept both measures. 
 
 A short-term bill funding federal agencies expires tomorrow and without action by Congress, the government will partially shut down. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, a Kentucky Republican, said his colleagues want to break the payroll-tax stalemate. 
 
 “Hopefully, the Senate will act,” he told reporters yesterday. “But you know how they are. We’re not going to sit around here and wait two weeks, twiddling our thumbs, waiting for the Senate.” 
 
 Short-Term Measure 
 
 President Barack Obama’s spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said last night in a statement that lawmakers instead ought to pass a short-term budget measure to allow more time for negotiations on the budget bill and the payroll-tax plan. 
 
 “Given the magnitude of the legislation -- providing over $1 trillion dollars in funding -- coupled with the unresolved payroll-tax cut and unemployment insurance extension, Congress should pass a short-term continuing resolution,” Pfeiffer said. 
 
 Some Republicans expressed qualms about their party’s strategy. Representative Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, said lawmakers will be asked to vote on legislation they won’t have enough time to read. “It goes against a lot of what we’ve said we were going to do,” he said. 
 
 The party’s campaign “Pledge to America” last year said “we will end the practice of packaging unpopular bills with ‘must-pass’ legislation” and “instead, we will advance major legislation one issue at a time.” 
 
 Oil Pipeline 
 
 Democrats are balking at some provisions in the House- passed payroll-tax plan, including plans to expedite construction of an oil pipeline from Canada to Texas, raising Medicare premiums for wealthier retirees and paring unemployment benefits. 
 
 The spending measure wraps together nine overdue appropriations bills funding almost 40 percent of the government, including the Departments of Defense, Labor, Education, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs and others. 
 
 Some House Republicans said yesterday they are unsure how many of their colleagues will support the budget plan, which has been criticized for spending too much. More than 100 Republicans, 40 percent of the chamber’s caucus, opposed a spending bill last month, forcing party leaders to rely on Democratic votes for passage. 
 
 Representative Tim Huelskamp, a Kansas Republican, said yesterday he was withholding judgment because he wasn’t sure what would be in the legislation, which was released early today. 
 
 ‘See What’s In It’ 
 
 “I’m not going to vote for something unless I have a pretty good idea of what’s in it and right now, we don’t,” Huelskamp said. “I’ve got to see what’s in it.” 
 
 The budget bill, combined with a related bill passed last month, would cap non-emergency discretionary spending at $1.043 trillion, according to the Republicans’ summary. That would be $7 billion less than last year and the second consecutive year appropriations have declined. 
 
 The cuts are larger when compared with inflation, currently 3.5 percent, and the increased demand for government services that comes with population growth. 
 
 More than half of the bill is comprised of the Defense Department’s budget, which would increase by $5 billion or about 1 percent to $518 billion. That doesn’t include an additional $115 billion in emergency war funding. 
 
 Foreign Aid 
 
 Some of the biggest cuts would come in foreign aid and international programs, one of the politically easiest areas to cut. Funding for the State Department, global health programs, economic assistance and other initiatives would fall by 13 percent, according to Republicans. 
 
 Pell grants, which help low-income families send children to college, would be cut by $11 billion over the next decade in part by tightening eligibility criteria. 
 
 The Environmental Protection Agency would see a 3 percent cut, which, when combined with reductions approved earlier this year, would mean an 18 percent cut from 2010, according to Republicans. The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, would receive a 6 percent cut. 
 
 The bill also includes a number of policy “riders” including ones targeting the administration’s policies on travel and sending money to Cuba, energy-efficient light bulbs and public funding of abortions in Washington, D.C. 
 
 To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Faler in Washington at bfaler@bloomberg.net 
 
 To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net
– 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.)