The fate of the $7 billion Keystone XL project today remains mired in a standoff between House Republicans who fought to link it to a payroll tax-cut extension and Democrats who charge the GOP with abandoning the bill after vowing that its fast-tracking of the oil pipeline could deliver votes from their party.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the upper-chamber majority's No. 3 leader, told reporters today that should Republicans make "a formal offer" on the payroll tax cut that involves passing the Senate's two-month extension, Democrats would be open to it. Schumer invoked the Canada-to-U.S. XL line, which the White House would be forced to rule on within 60 days under the Senate proposal, in blasting the GOP for resorting to "games" and flip-flopping on the tax cut plan.

"They were the ones who said, 'Put the oil pipeline in there; that will be enough,'" Schumer told reporters, adding that despite President Obama and senior Democrats' opposition to the Keystone XL deadline, "We did [put it in the bill]; we swallowed hard."

Schumer and other Democrats spoke out today as Senate Republicans and the conservative establishment left House Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) caucus without political cover and in a punishing political position on the tax-cut bill. At the same time, the GOP-friendly Wall Street Journal editorial board and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have been publicly urging House Republicans to give in and accept the compromise Senate bill -- with its Keystone XL provision that environmentalists hope will backfire in the form of an Obama rejection (E&E Daily, Dec. 19).

But House Republicans dug in their heels this morning, objecting to an attempt by House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) to force a straight vote on the payroll tax-cut bill that won 89 senators' support.

Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) closed the seconds-long pro forma session as Hoyer shouted from the floor, trying to be recognized for a motion.

"You're walking out," Hoyer said. "You're walking away, just as so many Republicans have walked away."

With the session over and the cameras off, but the lights still on, Hoyer then engaged in back-and-forth with Van Hollen -- who, if he were recognized, would have tried to force a vote on the two-month payroll extension and pipeline acceleration passed by the Senate.

The maneuver immediately brought comparisons to House Republicans' 2008 sit-in, when they refused to leave for the August recess to pressure then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to allow a vote on expanding offshore drilling.

With gas prices rising and a presidential election bearing down, Pelosi eventually relented and allowed a vote.

Reporter Mike Soraghan contributed.