The Republicans, having won control of the US House and six new Senate seats in November, cited the results of the election, insisting it was an endorsement of GOP ideas and a rejection of Obama policy.

On Tuesday, Senate and Congressional leaders from both parties met with President Obama to discuss issues before the lame-duck Congress, including an extension of the Bush tax cuts as well as an extension of federal unemployment benefits.

While Republicans and Democrats agreed that the tax cuts should be extended to the middle class, but disagreed sharply on whether the tax cuts should be extended to those families earning more than $250,000 a year, or should be extended for everyone regardless of income.

"The American people didn't vote for gridlock," President Barack Obama said after he emerged from his two-hour bipartisan summit Tuesday, saying he was encouraged by the “extremely civil” atmosphere — and immediately assigned two cabinet members to hammer out a deal on Bush-era tax cuts.

“They will hold all of us — and I mean all of us — accountable,” said Obama, who told congressional leaders during the meeting that he hasn’t done enough to reach out to Republicans in his first two years in office.

The two parties did agree to appoint a special committee on tax cuts during Tuesday's bipartisan meeting at the White House. It is meeting this week.

The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts enacted by former President George W. Bush will expire after Dec. 31 if Congress fails to reach an agreement on their extension.

GOP leaders — led by Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia — held firm on their previous vow to extend tax breaks permanently for all income groups.

Republicans contend that a failure to extend all of the tax cuts would hamper an already-sluggish economy. President Barack Obama and Democratic congressional leaders argue that the roughly $700 billion price tag attached to an extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans would be fiscally irresponsible.

Unless an extension of unemployment benefits is attached to an eventual deal on the Bush tax cuts, there is little likelihood that it will pass during the lame duck session.

The meeting was the first Obama has held with congressional leaders since the GOP recaptured the House and made strong gains in the Senate in the midterm elections. It was originally scheduled for Nov. 18 but was postponed after Republicans complained they had not been consulted.

Democrats are trying to pass several pieces of legislation before a more Republican Congress is sworn in next January, including the START nuclear arms treaty with Russia, a repeal of the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, and the so-called DREAM Act, which would create a path to citizenship for young illegal immigrants.