Transportation Bill Headed For Another Shutdown Showdown

WASHINGTON -- Senate leaders pleaded Wednesday for the House to pass a transportation bill before funding for thousands of projects across the country run out of money in three days.

The Senate has already passed a two-year, $109 billion bill, but the House has been stuck trying to move anything, first failing to come up with the five-year plan that its leaders initially favored and then failing repeatedly this week to pass stop-gap extensions.

"We are moving towards a very dangerous moment here, and I believe we are already in danger," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

"Should we reach March 31 without passing a bill, states' contract authority for construction projects will cease; 2.9 million jobs will be put at great risk," warned Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

"The states are not in a very good situation," Boxer added, noting that states don't have the funds to keep transportation projects going themselves. "That's why we're already seeing thousands of jobs being lost. For every hour that they dither over there in the House instead of taking the bipartisan bill up, which could pass ... every day it gets worse and worse."

House Democrats also favor passing the Senate measure and have refused to back the short-term bills supported by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). With 242 Republicans in his caucus, Boehner still hasn't gathered the 218 votes needed to pass something.

Boehner's spokesman, Michael Steel, argued that House Democrats should sign on to a stop-gap extension to make up the vote gap and keep the money flowing. He predicted they would at the last minute.

"The Democrats said they would not accept a 90-day extension but would accept a 60-day extension," Steel emailed. "So the plan is to pass a 60-day extension this week. The process by which the House passes a 60-day extension is up to the Democratic leadership. It's their choice as to whether to work in a bipartisan fashion, or play political games with our country's economy."

A Democratic aide familiar with talks on the bill said that the top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), never agreed to a 60-day extension. The aide was not authorized to speak for Rahall.

Schumer insisted that Boehner couldn't pass anything of any length, except the Senate bill.

"Once again we're facing the specter of an unnecessary shutdown because of the intransigence of the House GOP caucus," Schumer said, arguing that Boehner's problem is that his more conservative members don't really want a transportation bill and would rather leave such matters to the states.

"Speaker Boehner has once again been painted in a corner by his Tea Party caucus," said Schumer, predicting, as Democrats have before, that the GOP is headed for another damaging moment that could be avoided, much like the standoff over a payroll tax cut this past winter.

"This is like payroll tax 2," Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) said. "We're about to see it now again, and all we're doing is jeopardizing the folks in this country and the jobs that are being created."

Schumer called the answer obvious. "There's an easy way out that already has the stamp of approval from some of the most conservative people in Congress, Senate Republicans," he said, noting that the Senate bill received 74 votes. "He [Boehner] could pass the Senate bill, plain and simple -- a simple way out, bipartisan, does the job."

GOP leaders announced later that the House Rules Committee would meet Wednesday evening to prepare another attempt at a 90-day extension. It was not immediately clear if the new measure would be any different from the earlier one that failed or if leaders were counting on time pressure to win passage.

Make your voice heard:

Michael McAuliff covers politics and Congress for The Huffington Post. Talk to him on Facebook.

Comments

[troyrobertdavid]

10:53 AM on 03/29/2012

Putting 2.9 Million jobs at risk is exactly what the GOP is looking for coming into the November election. They will do everything they can halt the recovery.

[Tahut]

10:32 AM on 03/29/2012

No pleading necessary here. Just let it die and watch the fireworks erupt afterwards. The Democrats just need to make sure they have the yard signs out directing the mob in the direction of the Republicans and tea-baggers responsible for the mayhem caused.

[akrazyrunner]

09:42 AM on 03/29/2012

here's the key folks,
"Boehner still hasn't gathered the 218 votes needed to pass something."

Boehner can't get his people to agree on anything, he is going to go down in history as one of the absolute worst speakers ever. He can't even get 25 - 30 Republicans to vote on the Senate bill.

This is the football equivalent of punting on first down because you can't even think of a play to run

[Paul Burke]

09:23 AM on 03/29/2012

House democrats need to stick to their guns and support the senate bill - senate republicans, senate democrats and house democrats ALL AGREE - is how the public will see it - and the house republicans AGAIN will be seen as the obstructionist they are - not creating jobs - the plight of the common man be damned.

[Tahut]

10:33 AM on 03/29/2012

If I were a House Democrat, I'd let the bill die just to make the Republicans face the music since they have the majority and have used it in the past to bludgeon Democrats into submission.

[Miss Peaches]

09:08 AM on 03/29/2012

Please give Nancy back her gavel.

[Tahut]

10:36 AM on 03/29/2012

That's going to take people voting for Democrats and the way it looks now, the republicans running for President is nothing more than a dog-and-pony show while the GOP election machine is making significant gains in securing currents seats in both House and Senate and have the odds in their favor of other contested seats to give them majorities in both.

[caseyhd]

07:53 AM on 03/29/2012

So the Keystone pipeline which only creates 4 to 5 thousand jobs is a high priority for the GOP/TP but this bill which affects nearly 3 million jobs is not that important.......... I just don't understand Tea Party math.

[Tahut]

10:41 AM on 03/29/2012

The Republicans have pulled the wool over people's eyes in believing there's more than enough of gas and the reason for the high prices is political manipulation by Obama. In other words, jobs don't cause the price of gas to drop and people with jobs are more concerned about gas prices than they are about job creation and health care costs.

[pinetarred]

07:07 AM on 03/29/2012

What about cutting the BILLIONS of taxpayers money that ex-politicians recieve to operate their so called non-profits, 501 3 (c) tax exempt non profits...that serve them and their cronies and not the American people..And the thousands of others who do not serve the American public...One example of how they skim, they hire cronies at huge speaking fees! and a hundred other schemes..

[docallen001]

05:41 AM on 03/29/2012

I wonder if the TP Repubs consider the fact that they will not be terminating jobs of state and local employees who hob knob with the devil and so are expendable. They will be cutting jobs of corporate America and small businesses and will have a negative impact on those businesses.

[ProfessorMacphisto]

04:38 AM on 03/29/2012

GOP are k/owns,

[George Picard]

06:58 AM on 03/29/2012

Yeah and the dems in the senate have not passed a budget since april 2009, enough clowns on both sides to go around.

[caseyhd]

07:51 AM on 03/29/2012

Yeah and the Republicans in the House haven't accomplished it either have they?

[caseyhd]

01:26 PM on 03/30/2012

Passing a "budget" that has no chance or grounds to ever be passed it not only a waste of time but goes to show just how ineffectual this House is. You feel it was responsible to propose a budget that cuts programs for the middle class and poor while also giving the 1% even more tax breaks? Really?

[Janet Anderson]

03:31 AM on 03/29/2012

I just hope that the Dems stick to their guns and don't cave and give them the extension. Boehner is a real joke. I hope more TP people get elected in place of the current republicans. Won't he have his hands full. But I guess Cantor is waiting in the background just waiting to plunge the knife in his back...

[laylahb]

03:18 AM on 03/29/2012

Oh, great, won't contractors and their crews be excited to find out that they can plan for two months of work, on major long-term highway and roadway projects. Now that's what I call security.. And isn't it great that they're playing this game at the beginning of the construction season in many parts of the country.

I'm just looking forward to paying 18.5 cents less per gallon for my gas on Sunday. No deal, no federal gas tax come Sunday at 12:01 am. Yay..

[keinangst]

01:47 AM on 03/29/2012

Oh look!! Another "CRISIS". Fearmongers!!! WE NEED MORE SPENDING!! : /

[flapjacks and backslaps]

01:01 AM on 03/29/2012

I want to rant and curse and fly into some bat crazed obscene bent diatribe about these %#@*! GOP, but ... I'm saving it for Tampa ...

[speakingtruth2power]

12:17 AM on 03/29/2012

Any person paying attention AND has an open mind

would refuse to vote for a Republican this November.

[BigBearcatBill]

11:41 PM on 03/28/2012

The republicans all believe The Rapture, Armageddon, Apoclypse are coming by end of 2012, so they will wait it out and if they lose the elections they will probably start those if the can...they may campaign on warning they will, like Cheney said Kerry would not protect the country from terrorism...hmm it sure made a lot of money for his old company Haliburton didn't it? Lots of dots to connect repubs, youi are painting yourselves in that conspiracy corner again...