Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Federal Funding

House Pulls Its Disastrous Transpo Spending Bill As Senate Moves Ahead

While the Senate continues to consider amendments to its transportation budget bill, expected to pass this week, House leadership has canceled a vote on its own version. The bill, which passed the full Appropriations Committee a month ago, was scheduled to hit the floor this week for a vote by the entire House.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says they don't have the time for a transportation vote before recess. Does he really mean they don't have the votes? Photo: Dennis Brack/Newscom via ##http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/eric-cantor-increasingly-concerned-about-occupy-wall-street-mobs.php##TPM##

A spokesperson from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s office said the schedule was too busy this week with more pressing items they want to bring to the floor before the August recess begins. He said the House would consider the THUD appropriations bill once they return. The bill provides a budget for Fiscal Year 2014, which begins September 30.

House Democrats unanimously voted against the bill in committee, calling it "grossly inadequate" and even suggesting that it forebodes "the twilight of the appropriations process.” It cuts 2013 spending levels by 15 percent, eliminates TIGER and high-speed rail funding, cuts Amtrak’s subsidy by a third, and slashes HUD’s Community Development Block Grants program.

Scheduling might not be the only problem, however. Six Republicans in the Senate voted with Democrats on that chamber’s bill, which includes $10 billion more in spending than the starvation-diet House bill, including funding boosts for some of the programs eviscerated by the House plan.

"I always expected they would have vote problems on this,” a Democratic aide told The Hill. Politico reporter Anna Palmer said on Twitter that rumor had it the Republicans didn’t have the votes to pass the bill. “Rough way to go out for August recess,” she said.

Immediately after hearing that the Republicans had pulled the bill, Nancy Pelosi’s office sent out an email with the subject line, “Will House GOP Leave Town with a T-HUD or a Whimper?” She said the Republicans were embarrassing themselves and should “stop trying to placate the Tea Party and other warring factions in their conference.”

Though the House may do as Cantor says and vote on the bill in September, the conventional wisdom is that a continuing resolution will be necessary anyway, since the House and Senate bills are so disparate that a compromise is nearly impossible before the September 30 deadline. That's not such bad news -- a CR freezes current spending levels in place, which includes funding for TIGER and would avoid some of the House's harshest cuts.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

What if the ‘Tesla Takedown’ Is Only the Beginning?

Tesla's cars have become symbols of Elon Musk's controversial role in U.S. politics — but they're also instruments of a violent system that long predates his time in the White House.

March 13, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Are Hard-Driving

To paraphrase Billy Idol: Get out of my car, get into my dreams. Wired shows us examples of cities cutting down on driving that most of us can only fantasize about.

March 13, 2025

How Climate Change Is Hurting Transit Ridership

Transit isn't only a key solution to confronting climate change; it's also one of its victims.

March 12, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines Are About Elon-ed Out

While President Trump tries to pump up Tesla stock prices, Elon Musk wants to privatize Amtrak.

March 12, 2025

U.S. DOT Orders Review of All Grants Related to Green Infrastructure, Bikes

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is coming for our bike lanes — and the time to act is now.

March 12, 2025
See all posts