north korea. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. the showdown over the payroll tax cut lasted for weeks, but the stalemate ended in a matter of minutes today after house republican leaders bowed to overwhelming pressure and gave into the democrats. today, the house approved the bill that got almost 90% of support in the senate. president obama signed it into law and the threat of a new year s day tax hire for 160 working americans is over. let s go straight to dana bash who s watching this on capitol hill. must be pretty empty. it was exciting for a few minutes today. a few minutes, underline the word minutes. look, there is a lot of relief that this battle that consumed congress in these final days is over. especially for house republicans. the house will be in order. it was john boehner s decision to back down and he backed it up by presiding over passage of a short-term tax cut that many call a gimmick. hr 3765. a bill to extend the payroll tax holida