WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislation awarding generous funding for road and bridge projects, community development grants and housing help for the poor is running into stiff Republican opposition in the Senate.
The measure could fall prey Thursday to a filibuster by Republicans unhappy that the bill breaks through budget limits required by automatic spending cuts known as budget sequestration.
A companion bill that is far more austere was pulled off the House floor Wednesday, and a top lawmaker said it was because GOP leaders lacked the votes to pass it. The Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Harold Rogers of Kentucky, said it was time to go back to the drawing board and come up with a compromise with congressional Democrats and the White House.
