WASHINGTON – The Republican-controlled House pushed ahead Thursday with a bill that would raise taxes on people earning over $1 million a year as hopes faded for a pre-Christmas deal between President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff."

Democratic leaders vowed to let the House measure die in the Senate without a vote and urged Boehner to return to the negotiating table. As a grand bargain to avoid the fiscal cliff's automatic tax hikes and spending cuts proved elusive, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said lawmakers would return to the Capitol after the holiday to try again.

"The president and Boehner have to negotiate this, OK?" said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "We don't need a vehicle. We need an agreement."