Lawmakers who are discussing the Bush-era tax cuts with the Obama administration have been urging a delay in any votes until the negotiators can meet.

The vote “should not undermine” the tax negotiations “nor is it intended to embarrass or put Republicans in a difficult place,” Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, told reporters today in Washington.

President Barack Obama and many Democrats want to retain lower rates enacted in 2001 and 2003 only for individuals with an annual income of $200,000 or less and married couples earning no more than $250,000 a year. Republicans insist on keeping the Bush-era tax cuts for all income levels. All of the tax cuts are scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

“It is a shame what we have agreement on is being held hostage by what we have no agreement on,” Hoyer said.

“The American public is frustrated,” he said. “Nobody wants working Americans to get any kind of an increase on Jan. 1.”