On December 17, President Obama signed legislation extending the Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans for two years and emergency unemployment insurance for 18 months. Although the agreement struck by President Obama and the Republican congressional leaders initially met with substantial criticism, primarily from House Democrats, the legislation ultimately passed easily, 81 to 19 in the Senate and 277 to 148 in the House. The January 2011 Congressional Digest covers the debate leading up to these votes, during which Congress considered proposals to let the tax cuts expire only for the highest-income taxpayers.