With the deadline looming for the benefits package, Washington insiders believed a deal would be struck last week between the two chambers of Congress to ensure quick passage of the tax extenders bill. Instead, the members left for their home districts after failing to extend unemployment benefits or pay rates for doctors working under Medicare.

While President Obama has vowed to stay out of the process, the expiration date for certain tax cuts has come and gone, putting additional pressure on legislators when they return to Washington next week.

The House brought the tax extenders bill to the floor last week " With an anti-deficit spending faction growing, House leaders were forced to cut nearly $80 billion from the bill, including COBRA health benefits for the unemployed and further Medicaid assistance to states. Even so, many moderate Democrats continued to cite growing concern "back home" over mounting expenditures.

"There is a sense that the economy is recovering, and this is not a new entitlement," Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) told The Hill newspaper. "We need to get down to the business of hearing some congressional deliberations in terms of winding down the long-term extensions of unemployment."

With provisions of the legislation struck, the House passed the updated bill last Friday by a narrow margin of 215 - 204. Representatives were stunned, however, when the Senate adjourned for recess without considering the bill.

The Senate will likely vote on the extension upon its return, but passage of the bill is uncertain. Like their House counterparts, many in the Senate remain concerned by the continuation of relief and wonder how many more extensions they can politically afford, given election-year concerns and the historically high deficit.

In a statement, President Obama hailed the House passage as "an important step in getting American families the help they need." He called on the Senate for "swift action on this package so I can sign it into law, and I urge Congress to move quickly on additional relief measures."

These measures include health care benefits for the unemployed and federal assistance to states to maintain essential services for health care, teachers, police officers and firefighters.

With both proponents and critics of the bill saying they're "fighting for the common citizen," discussions should prove interesting when Congress returns next week.