WASHINGTON – Indiana’s two U.S. senators supported the fiscal cliff deal worked out as time elapsed on New Year’s Eve.

Sens. Dan Coats and Richard Lugar voted for the plan as it breezed through the Senate in an 89-8 vote.

However, the proposal appears stuck in limbo on Tuesday after Republican leaders in the House expressed strong reservations against supporting the legislative package.

For Lugar, the vote came on what appeared to be his last official day in office.

Coats, in a prepared statement, said the plan prevents massive tax increases from hitting Americans in the new year and delays substantial defense cuts that would impact the country’s national security.

“This stop gap measure is simply the lesser of two evils,” Coats said in a prepared statement.

“Allowing our country to slip off the fiscal cliff and raise taxes on every American is unacceptable. American taxpayers should not have to pay the price for Washington’s dysfunction. The cost of not acting could result in an average tax increase of $4,000 on Hoosier families and $2,800 on individuals.”

Newly elected 2nd District Rep. Jackie Walorski, who takes office this week, did not issue a statement on the legislation Tuesday. Neither did Rep. Joe Donnelly, who will replace Lugar in the Senate this week.

Third District Rep. Marlin Stutzman said Monday he would oppose the Senate version of the plan if it came up for a vote in its current form.

“A tax hike without spending cuts is not a serious attempt to solve our country’s debt crisis,” Stutzman said in a prepared statement.

“We face a debt crisis because Congress and President Obama have refused to make hard choices and this latest ‘deal’ is just another example. It’s time for Washington to get serious and reform our nation’s entitlements and tax structure, not just simply raise taxes that will hurt small business owners and their employees,” the statement said.