Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) told reporters Thursday that House GOP leadership is considering bringing up the Senate version of the highway bill, but will continue to work toward an approach that’s more agreeable to their conservative members.
“As I told the members yesterday, the current plan is to see what the Senate can produce and to bring their bill up,” Boehner said. “And in the meantime we are going to continue to have conversations with members about a longer term approach, which frankly most of our members want. But at this point in time, the plan is to bring up the Senate bill or something like it.”
Senate Democratic leaders on Thursday sternly told Boehner to get behind the Senate version, which is being developed on a bipartisan basis by liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and conservative Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK). The Dems’ message to Boehner boiled down to this: Accept the Senate version or induce more gridlock on a measure that involves “millions” of jobs.
