Plan B, the fiscal cliff tax proposal that would extend the Bush tax cuts on income for those who earn $1 million or less and that Boehner said earlier Thursday would pass, failed to win enough support in the Republican Conference. The vote was canceled and lawmakers were free to leave for Christmas.

The details about the failure, and their scope, flowed quickly after that as Majority Leader Eric Cantor and a phalanx of staffers walked by and confirmed that the speaker's efforts to persuade members had failed.