Never mind that gigantic pothole you're about to drive us all into.
The Senate has spent the last week, and part of the weekend, on a highway funding bill that needs to pass by Friday or funding for transportation project—including ones happening right now—dries up. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
says he's absolutely confident he'll get it through in time.
McConnell said Monday that he is confident the Senate can pass a long-term highway bill this week, despite the looming deadline.
"Substantial numbers of Republicans and Democrats continue to support it, but time is running out to get this bill through Congress," he said. "We're up against a deadline at the end of the week, jobs are on the line … important infrastructure projects are too, so we have to get the job done, and we are."
But just how long-term that bill will be is a
point of contention within McConnell's own conference.
Sens. David Perdue (R-Ga.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) have filed an amendment to the bill that would effectively limit the highway legislation to three years.
The legislation being considered provides authority for federal funding for six years, but only includes funding for the first three years. […]
“Only in Washington could you square a six-year bill with only three years of funding,” Flake said in a statement. “Rather than find itself staring down another fiscal cliff in short order, the Senate ought to exercise some fiscal responsibility now."
Head below the fold for more on this story.
Meanwhile, House Republican leadership is saying, again, that they're not interested in any Senate bill, with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy flatly stating that the House is "not taking up the Senate bill." Which leads us to kind of a serious problem: there won't be any more surface transportation money for any projects after Friday. So what happens now? They don't know.
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and McCarthy (R-Calif.) have a few options, which they will discuss in a Monday afternoon Republican leadership meeting. They could sit on their hands, and try to force the Senate to pass the five-month extension the House passed earlier this month. Or they could try to jump-start the process by considering a two- or three-month bill—a move that’s being actively considered by congressional leaders.
The House is scheduled to leave Thursday for a five-week break. But none of them will probably be driving home, so it's no skin off their noses.