House GOP not returning to D.C.

President Obama might be flying back from his vacation in Hawaii in the hopes of negotiating a compromise to avoid the "fiscal cliff," but it turns out that House Republicans won't be following suit:

According to House Republican leadership aides, House GOP leaders have not yet called their members back to Washington D.C., and WILL NOT be in session tomorrow for legislative business. According to one GOP aide, "It's up to Senate Democrats to act right now."

During the House Republican conference meeting late Thursday night, leadership told the conference that they would be given 48 hours before being called back to D.C. after Christmas. According to aides, leadership has not given that notice yet.

I suppose the president can still sit down with any House Republicans who might be in town (which presumably will include GOP leadership), but unless the body as a whole returns to session, nothing is going to actually get done, even if an agreement were reached. Moreover, given the failure of Boehner's Plan B, there's no reason to believe he is capable of negotiating on behalf of his conference anyway.

At this point, with House Republicans saying "no deal" as loudly and clearly as they can, the best path forward is to take them at the word and accept "no" for answer. Obviously, you have to stay open to the possibility that they are bluffing and will agree to a last minute deal, but until they start to say "yes," there's nothing worth talking about.