Congress passed House Joint Resolution 45, 111th Cong., 2d Sess. (Jan. 28, 2009), with an amendment that reinstates legislative pay-as-you-go rules, under which all tax cuts or expenditures must be matched with tax increases, to avoid increasing the deficit. A special exception was included for a two-year extension of the 2009 estate and gift tax rules.
This is interesting news: Congress is still apparently (at least) awake enough to keep the possibility of extending the 2009 statute, or something similar, alive.