CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
– TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Jan. 22, 2009 – 8:06 p.m.
Senate Confirms LaHood as Transportation Secretary
By CQ Staff
Former Rep. Ray LaHood won Senate confirmation Thursday as President Obama's Transportation secretary.
The Illinois Republican was confirmed by voice vote a day after the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee sent his nomination straight to the floor without a vote.
LaHood, a moderate popular with colleagues, brings a bipartisan flavor to the Obama cabinet that could be valuable in negotiating transportation spending in the economic stimulus bill (
LaHood has come under fire from some taxpayer groups for a track record of defending earmarks while serving in the House. Taxpayers for Common Sense ranks him among the top 10 percent of House members in earmark spending.
But he testified at his confirmation hearing Wednesday that he is comfortable with Obama’s call to rein in earmarks. The president has called for no earmarks in the stimulus package and a reduction in overall lawmaker-directed spending to 1994 levels.
Comments
Secretary LaHood and the Congress should divide the transportation portion of the Stimulus Plan by including in the 2009 Highway Appropriations bill those appropriations for immediate stimulus to the economy, and include in the highway re-authorization bill those funds authorized to be approrpriated for projects and programs that will follow SAFETEA-LU when it expires on September 30, 2009. By dividing the bill into short term and long term, we will know by September 30th if the approach enacted in the FY 2009 appropriation bill will have a positive effective on the economy. If not, the approach can be changed in the re-authorization bill and subsequent highway appropriation bill for FY 2010.
How has the descriptive representation of the cabinet memeber changed since the Eisenhower presidency in the 1950?
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