House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, wouldn’t shut the door on bringing up recommendations from Vice President Biden’s commission on gun violence in the House next year.

“We join the president in mourning the victims of the horrible tragedy in Connecticut,” Boehner said in response to a question from NBC News during press conference at the Capitol. “He's appointed Vice President Biden to lead a commission, and when the Vice President's recommendations come forward, we'll certainly take them into consideration.”

But the top House Republican wouldn’t commit, either, to allowing votes on specific gun control measures – like renewing the assault weapons ban or limiting ammunition magazines’ capacity – that Democrats have called for in the wake of last week’s elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

President Barack Obama tasked Biden on Wednesday with leading the task force on gun violence, which the president said he wanted to produce specific recommendations by next month. The panel was prompted by the tragic Newtown shooting, which claimed the lives of 20 children and 6 teachers at an elementary school.

"The president is absolutely committed to keeping his promise that we will act and we will act in a way that is designed -- even if as he says we can only save one life -- we have to take action," Biden said at a meeting Thursday with cabinet and law enforcement officials.

Boehner’s words Thursday mark a relatively open stance by the speaker, who enjoys an “A” rating by the National Rifle Association. Back in July, after the shooting at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colo., Boehner resisted calls for new regulations on guns saying: "The president has made clear that he's not going to use this horrific event to push for new gun law and I agree."

A spokesman for Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., says the former vice presidential nominee and current House Budget Chairman plans to vote in support of Speaker Boehner's "Plan B" measure that would extend Bush-era tax rates for Americans making less than $1 million annually but not for incomes over $1 million.

"Chairman Ryan will continue to work to protect as many Americans as possible from tax hikes," said the aide. "Chairman Ryan believes that Speaker Boehner's "Plan B" meets that criteria."

If Ryan were to oppose the plan -- which has earned scorn from some anti-tax conservatives who say they will not accept any tax increases, even on top earners -- it could have been seen as a sign that Boehner had lost control of the GOP conference.

The vote on the measure is currently scheduled for tomorrow on the House floor.

Updated 10:48 a.m. - President Barack Obama would veto House Republicans' "Plan B" legislation should it make its way to the White House, a top administration spokesman said Wednesday.

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement that the GOP backup proposal -- which would preserve existing tax rates on income less than $1 million past the end of this year -- "does not meet the test of balance, and the president would veto the legislation in the unlikely event of its passage."

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, unveiled the "Plan B" proposal on Tuesday amid stalled talks with Obama toward resolving the combination of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts set to take place on Jan. 1 -- the so-called fiscal cliff.

The proposal would allow tax rates rise on income over $1 million, matching a previous Democratic proposal earlier this year. The administration, however, has set a lower threshold ($400,000 per year) at which it believes taxes should be allowed to rise. Moreover, the administration has argued for a more comprehensive agreement that includes spending cuts and entitlement reforms, but also new spending projects and an extension of unemployment insurance.

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

U.S. President Barack Obama walks back to the Oval Office of the White House in Washington December 18, 2012.

"The congressional Republican 'Plan B' legislation continues large tax cuts for the very wealthiest individuals - on average, millionaires would see a tax break of $50,000 - while eliminating tax cuts that 25 million students and families struggling to make ends meet depend on and ending critical incentives for our nation’s businesses," Pfeiffer said.

Republicans, as of now, plan to move forward with a set of twin votes on Thursday, one to maintain existing tax rates for those earning less than $250,000 per year (Obama's existing proposal) and the GOP "Plan B" alternative. Boehner. who is continuing to negotiate a broader deal with Obama, will likely have to pass his backup plan only with Republican support -- and even then, conservatives who are leery of raising any taxes at all may defect.

"The president urges the Republican leadership to work with us to resolve remaining differences and find a reasonable solution to this situation today instead of engaging in political exercises that increase the possibility that taxes go up on every American," Pfeiffer wrote.

"The White House’s opposition to a back-up plan to ensure taxes don’t rise on American families is growing more bizarre and irrational by the day," said Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck in response. "Republicans have always said a broader, ‘balanced’ plan is the ideal solution, and we have put one forward. In the absence of a ‘balanced’ solution from the President, however, we must act to stop taxes from rising across the board in 12 days. If Democrats disapprove of this bill, then there is a simple solution: amend it in the Senate and send it back to the House."

Updated 11:38 a.m. -- House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, will introduce "Plan B" legislation to extend the Bush-era tax rates for those making $1 million and below as a backstop for the "fiscal cliff" talks. But Democrats have rejected the plan, saying that it cannot pass the Senate and does not "ask enough" of top earners. 

The proposal, which Boehner described as a less desirable alternative to a larger "balanced" deal with the White House, would mean that rates would go up for the highest earners, while taxes would remain at current levels for the majority of Americans. President Barack Obama had originally called for tax rates to increase at a lower threshold, for those households earning over $250,000 per year; his administration made a new offer to Republicans last night raising that threshold to $400,000.

"I continue to have hope that we can reach a broader agreement with the White House that would reduce spending as well as have revenues on the table," Boehner said at a press conference on Capitol Hill. "I think it would be better for our country, but at this point, having a backup plan to make sure that as few American taxpayers are affected by this increase as possible ... is the right course of action for us." 

Boehner continued to criticize the president's overall offer as too light on spending cuts. "What we've offered meets the definition of 'balanced,' but the president is not there yet," he said.  

White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement that Boehner's alternative still "doesn't ask enough" of top earners. 

Obama "is not willing to accept a deal that doesn’t ask enough of the very wealthiest in taxes and instead shifts the burden to the middle class and seniors," Carney said. "The Speaker’s “Plan B” approach doesn’t meet this test because it can’t pass the Senate and therefore will not protect middle class families, and does little to address our fiscal challenges with zero spending cuts."

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, arrives for a closed-door meeting with House Republicans as he negotiates with President Obama to avert the fiscal cliff, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also shot down the House plan as a non-starter, arguing that it cannot pass both chambers of Congress. 

"Speaker Boehner's 'plan B' is the farthest thing from a balanced approach," Reid said in a statement. "It will not protect middle class families because it cannot pass both Houses of Congress. The Senate bill is the only 'plan B' that can be signed into law and prevent taxes from rising by $2,200 on the average middle-class family." 

Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck retorted that the president's rejection of the alternative plan "defies common sense." 

"After spending months saying we must ask for more from millionaires and billionaires, how can they reject a plan that does exactly that?" he said. "By once again moving the goal posts, the President is threatening every American family with higher taxes."

A Republican leadership aide said earlier Tuesday that the second-track plan to prevent tax increases for most Americans does not mean that negotiations between the speaker and the president have stalled.   Both sides say that they are hopeful that a larger deal can be struck, and talks continue between the White House and GOP. 

But action on the tax cut extension for all but the highest earners would provide a second path to prevent tax increases after the first of the year that could shake the American economy. 

Boehner said that the "Plan B" bill is likely to see action on the floor later this week. It will not address the automatic defense cuts - or "sequestration" --  that are part of the larger fiscal cliff puzzle, he said. 

Asked by NBC's Luke Russert about the effect of the Newtown school shootings last week on partisan wrangling over the cliff, Boehner acknowledged the effect the tragedy has had on the American people. 

"It's not a time to put Americans through more stress," he said.  

NBC's Carrie Dann contributed to this report. 

President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, met Monday morning at the White House in their continued efforts to reach a deal on the impending fiscal cliff.

"The president and the speaker are meeting at the White House to continue their discussions about the fiscal cliff and balanced deficit reduction," a spokesman for Boehner said, declining to release any further information about the talks.

The Republican's trip to the White House came after reports this weekend suggesting Boehner had offered increased tax rates on millionaires and a one-year extension in the nation's debt limit. Those proposals, if accurate, would represent some concessions to Obama on the question of how to best resolve the combination of tax hikes and spending cuts set to take place at the end of this year.

Talks between Republicans and Obama appeared stalemated for much of last week, as Boehner and Obama each made and rejected new offers from the other.

After another week spent wrangling with President Barack Obama over deficit negotiations, House Speaker John Boehner is planning to go home to Ohio for the weekend, say Republican aides. 

On whether Boehner's physical absence from Washington could impact communicating with the president concerning the fiscal cliff, an aide indicated that a potential break in the apparent stalemate wouldn't be hampered by distance. 

"Ohio has both cell phone service and airports - so if the President wants to talk or meet, it won't be a problem at all." 

House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday that "serious differences" continue to separate Republicans from President Barack Obama on work toward resolving the impending "fiscal cliff" at the end of this month.

Speaking this morning on Capitol Hill, the Ohio Republican said that his conversation Tuesday with Obama was "open and honest," but that a new proposal put forth by the White House could not muster enough support to pass through Congress.

"The president and I had a deliberate call yesterday and we spoke openly about the differences we face," Boehner told reporters following a meeting with fellow Republicans. "The president has called for $1.4 trillion dollars in revenue, that cannot pass the House or the Senate."

Two sources familiar with the Obama-Boehner call yesterday described it to NBC News as a "tense" conversation. Amid dueling, new proposals, Boehner proposed a permanent extension of existing tax rates for the wealthy, a Democratic source familiar with the call told NBC's Kristen Welker.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, who spoke with President Barack Obama yesterday, arrives for a closed-door meeting with the GOP caucus, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Sources confirmed Tuesday that the administration's new offer included $1.4 trillion in new revenue and $600 billion in spending cuts -- slightly less revenue and slightly more cuts than Obama had initially proposed.

The level of spending cuts and the method of raising new revenue -- along with the manner in which savings might be found in entitlement programs -- have confounded lawmakers and the White House for the better part of the last two years. Obama has insisted that higher tax rates for the wealthy, a priority on which he campaigned, are essential to a final deal. Republicans argue that enough revenue can be raised through the elimination of tax loopholes and deductions.

Still, Boehner did try to publicly project some optimism as to whether a deal could be reached before the end of the year, when the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that constitute the fiscal cliff are set to take effect. He counseled lawmakers to plan carefully around the holidays and to expect to return to work shortly after Christmas.

"Listen I was born with a glass half full, I remain the most optimistic person in this town but we got some serious differences," he said.

NBC's Kristen Welker and Luke Russert contributed reporting.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, took to the House floor Tuesday to urge President Barack Obama to “get serious” and offer a plan to resolve the impending fiscal cliff.

Following a weekend meeting between the president and Capitol Hill’s top Republican, Boehner said that a deal to address the combination of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts set for the end of this month continued to elude lawmakers.

Boehner placed the blame squarely with Obama, whom the speaker again demanded produce a new version of his plan.

“If the president doesn’t agree with our approach, he’s got an obligation to put forward a plan that can pass both chambers of the Congress,” Boehner said. “Because right now, the American people have to be scratching their heads and wondering: When is the president going to get serious?”

The main sticking point involves taxes, and the question of whether tax rates should be allowed to go up for the wealthiest of Americans. Obama has demanded that tax rates go up on high earners, possibly to the levels they were at during President Bill Clinton’s administration. Republicans argue that they should instead raise revenue through eliminating tax deductions and loopholes, thereby sparing some small-business owners whose revenue is taxed as income.

But there’s also the broader question of whether an extension of the debt limit should be included in the deal, along with Republicans’ demand that Obama specify the areas in which he’s willing to make cuts.

“A lot of people know that the president and I met on Sunday. It was a nice meeting, it was cordial. But we’re still waiting for the White House to identify what spending cuts the president is willing to make as part of the ‘balanced’ approach that he promised the American people,” Boehner said.

The Ohio Republican added: “Where are the president’s spending cuts? And the longer the White House slow-walks this process, the closer our economy gets to the fiscal cliff.”

Still, Boehner expressed optimism that Republicans could still reach an agreement with Obama before the Dec. 31 deadline.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, emerged Friday to say that "no progress" had been made on resolving the impending "fiscal cliff."

Capitol Hill's top Republican said that talks with President Barack Obama toward resolving the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts scheduled for the beginning of next year continued to stall; Boehner renewed his demand that Obama submit a new plan for evaluation by lawmakers.

"This isn't a progress report because there's no progress to report," the speaker said at a brief press conference Friday morning on Capitol Hill.

The issue of taxes continues to ensnare negotiations on the fiscal cliff. The Obama administration has demanded that income tax rates be increased for the wealthiest Americans; Republicans made a counter-offer earlier this week that would raise revenue by closing loopholes and deductions, but would also preserve existing tax rates, all of which are set to expire at the end of this year unless Congress acts.

"It's time for the president, if he's serious, to come back to us with a counter-offer," said Boehner, asking at a later point: "When is he [Obama] going to take a step toward us?"

The president rejected the Republican plan as unbalanced because it allowed for no increase in income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans, a priority on which Obama campaigned for re-election this fall. His original proposal, presented last week to lawmakers by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, called for increased rates. What Republicans are now demanding is a new version of Obama's plan.

At the same time, Boehner is facing countervailing pressures among rank-and-file Republicans over his management of the impending fiscal cliff. Some conservatives have complained that the GOP leadership's offer to collect new revenue constitutes a betrayal of the low-taxes philosophy which has long characterized the modern Republican Party. At the same time, some Republicans have called for the extension of tax rates for most Americans so as to prevent the political impact of a tax increase for middle class families on Jan. 1, if a deal cannot be reached.

As though he needed it, House Speaker John Boehner received yet another reminder Tuesday of his principal challenge of finding a resolution to the fiscal cliff morass without alienating the core of his own party, a position that has been all too familiar in recent years.

Shortly after Republican House leaders offered a proposal to avert impending tax hikes and spending cuts, conservatives attacked it as a betrayal of core principles, putting the top GOP lawmaker in a difficult bargaining position against President Barack Obama.

"Speaker Boehner's $800 billion tax hike will destroy American jobs and allow politicians in Washington to spend even more, while not reducing our $16 trillion debt by a single penny," Republican Sen. Jim DeMint said Tuesday in a statement. The South Carolina senator – an influential figure among conservatives – was referring to the new revenue projected in the GOP proposal that would come from closing loopholes and deductions in the tax code rather than rate increases.

Recommended - Poll: Public would blame GOP more for fiscal cliff failure

The White House rejected that proposal at first glance, reasoning that Boehner and House Republicans offered no concessions to Obama's central demand that income tax rates be allowed to increase for the wealthiest Americans.

In short, Boehner is being pulled in opposite directions by an administration which demands more compromise from Republicans, and by conservatives who expect the speaker to cede no ground. That leaves him with few options to craft a deal. (Boehner allies point, ironically, to some past comments by DeMint suggesting allowing some tax increases might be politically expedient.)

Tim Phillips, the president of the Koch Brothers-backed group Americans for Prosperity, said Monday that Boehner's proposal "leaves conservatives wanting."

"By placing an $800 billion tax hike on the table, Republican Leaders are engaging in little more than pre-emptive capitulation," Heritage Action -- the political wing of the Heritage Foundation think tank -- said in talking points provided Monday to its followers. "The latest Republican proposal to President Obama is nothing but bad policy and a highly questionable negotiating tactic."

This pressure on Boehner from his right flank could have the unintended benefit of signaling to the White House just how narrow his space to negotiate really is. But if Republican leaders do strike a deal with Obama, rank-and-file GOP lawmakers might publicly break with their leaders for fear of alienating constituents and incurring a primary challenge in 2014.

That’s a now-familiar dynamic to anyone who closely tracked the fiscal fights which dominated Congress for much of 2011. The government was brought to the brink of shutdown several times as conservatives balked at supporting deals Boehner had struck with Obama and the Democratic-held Senate. This same discord produced that summer’s debt limit deal, which established the automatic spending cuts that make up half of the fiscal cliff.

It’s this same cast of characters who must now forge the kind of compromise which has eluded Washington for months.

“We're nowhere. We're farther than where we started,” Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the former GOP vice presidential nominee, said of the negotiations Tuesday on WTMJ radio in Wisconsin. He said that Obama is now demanding higher tax rates than the ones on which he had campaigned.

Related: Fiscal cliff deal may be found in the middle

As if to illustrate the delicate balance Boehner must strike, when Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole suggested last week that Republicans should accede to Obama’s request that Congress authorize extended tax cuts for all but the top 2 percent of earners, the GOP speaker emerged to dismiss it. “I told Tom earlier at our conference meeting that I disagreed with him,” Boehner said.

Adding to Republicans’ political headache was a new poll released Tuesday suggesting Republicans would assume the lion’s share of blame from voters if the government were to cross into the fiscal cliff. Fifty-three percent of Americans said Republicans in Congress would be more to blame for a failure to reach consensus in a Nov. 29-Dec. 2 poll conducted by the Pew Research Center and the Washington Post. That’s unchanged from a month ago, despite a messaging barrage by both GOP leaders and the president over the past few weeks.

“If you watch the nature of what Republicans have done here, we’ve talked about this and passed legislation last year,” House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., responded on CNBC. “We’ve responded to every presidential proposal. We’ve been first on the mix. The actions don’t hold up to where the polls are, but we want to make sure we solve this problem and that we don’t go over the fiscal cliff.”

News reported Monday by NBC that Boehner had moved to strip four GOP lawmakers of plum committee assignments due to disloyal behavior during the past two years has only threatened to exacerbate tensions between Boehner and influential conservatives, too.

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, leaves after a news conference Nov. 30, 2012 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

"The dirty little secret in Congress is that while refusing to kowtow to the wishes of party leaders can sometimes cost you some perks in Washington, the taxpayers back home are grateful," said Club for Growth President Chris Chocola.

"This is a clear attempt on the part of Republican leadership to punish those in Washington who vote the way they promised their constituents they would -- on principle -- instead of mindlessly rubber-stamping trillion dollar deficits and the bankrupting of America," added Matt Kibbe, of the Tea Party-oriented group FreedomWorks.

Four House Republicans have been stripped of their committee seats after it was determined by the Republican conference that they were "not team players," a GOP leadership aide told NBC News. 

The decision made Monday during a meeting of the Republican Steering Committee strips Reps. David Schweikert (R-AZ) and Walter Jones (R-NC) of their seats on the Financial Services Committee, and Reps. Justin Amash (R-MI) and Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) of their seats on the House Budget Committee. 

The decision to take the committee seats away from Schweikert, Amash and Huelskamp has transformed into a mini-battle between conservatives and the Republican leadership establishment, with Schweikert's office saying his removal was a result of his "voting based on principle." 

"This morning Congressman Schweikert learned there was a price to be paid for voting based on principle. That price was the removal from the House Financial Services Committee," Schweikert's Communications Director Rachel Semmel told NBC News in a statement, "We are obviously disappointed that Leadership chose to take this course, but Rep. Schweikert remains committed to fighting for the conservative principles that brought him here." 

Reps Amash and Huelskamp caught flak from Republican leadership after they voted against the Republican budget during a vote to move the bill from the Budget Committee to a full vote of the House. As a result the bill made it through committee by only one vote.

When the Republican budget was voted on by the full House, Amash, Huelskamp and Jones were among a small group of Republicans who voted against it, saying it did not go far enough to cut the federal deficit.

House Republican leadership aides say the assertion by Schweikert's office that the move is a reflection of his voting record is "absurd."

"These guys are clearly not team players. This isn't about ideology; this is about how you treat the people on your team," a GOP leadership aide told NBC News, "Paul Ryan is one of the most conservative-principled members of our conference, and he kept his committee assignment."

Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), responded by saying, "The Steering Committee makes decisions based on a range of factors."

Schweikert is known for ruffling feathers within the Republican conference.  In July, Schweikert was removed from the GOP "Whip team," which is responsible for gathering votes to pass bills, because he voted against a bill he was telling members to vote for, according to a Politico report.

The fight has spilled outside of Capitol Hill, with the conservative group Club for Growth calling the move "a consequence of their principled stands on behalf of pro-growth policies, often bringing them in conflict with the leadership of their own party."

"Congressmen Schweikert, Huelskamp, and Amash are now free of the last remnants of establishment leverage against them," Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said in a statement. "We expect that these three defenders of economic freedom will become even bolder in their efforts to defend the taxpayers against the big spenders in both parties."

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