LaHood calls DOT workers back to work Wednesday
After the Senate approved a bill extending unemployment benefits and highway funding on Tuesday night, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called furloughed workers from his department back to work.
“I am pleased that the Senate has acted to break its logjam and extend the Highway Trust Fund for another 30 days,” LaHood said in a statement. “This means that our valued employees may return to work. It also means that their important work getting the economy back on its feet, ensuring Americans’ safety and keeping critical construction projects moving will be able to continue.”
LaHood said the roughly 2,000 DOT workers furloughed without pay for the last two days should report to work as normal on Wednesday.
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) had blocked the Senate from voting on the bill, a decision that forced LaHood to furlough workers that monitor road construction projects on federal lands and work on national anti-drunk driving and anti-texting campaigns.
By
Ed O'Keefe
| March 2, 2010; 9:30 PM ET
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Agencies and Departments, Workplace Issues
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Posted by: Nymous | March 2, 2010 10:13 PM | Report abuse
Republicans don't give a crap about the American people.
Posted by: jeffwacker | March 2, 2010 10:28 PM | Report abuse
So how much did Bunning's political posturing cost the American taxpayer?
Posted by: DJMonet | March 2, 2010 10:43 PM | Report abuse
Bunning is a jerk. He was negotiating for something to be built in Kentucky with his name on it. McConnell was not going to let him have the usual going home present for a retiring Senator, so Bunning threw a fit. The fine people of Kentucky deserve better representation than Bunning, even for the few months left in his tenure. Watch, there will be a earmark to build the Bunning Memorial bridge, the Bunning Memorial Library, and/or the Bunning Memorial Think Tank (LOL) at the University of Kentucky, because that is what Bunning's staff was negotiating.
Posted by: merrylees | March 3, 2010 3:21 AM | Report abuse
The furloughed employees will probably be made whole, and they should be. None of this was in their control.
Posted by: MajorConfusion | March 3, 2010 5:28 AM | Report abuse
so in 30 days, if he does it again, these workers will be furloughed...
I think that if this is the case these workers should be fired...
why...
because congress did not fund these jobs properly...
isn't it funny that 2000 workers would be at the mercy of an emergency bill...
how badly did pelosi and reid mess up...
Posted by: DwightCollins | March 3, 2010 8:59 AM | Report abuse
Didn't obama want to use "Pay as You Go" ? What's the problem ??
Posted by: kalisdan | March 3, 2010 9:11 AM | Report abuse
If the bill was so important, why did Hairy Reid delay it to the last minute?
Posted by: member5 | March 3, 2010 11:42 AM | Report abuse
The comments to this entry are closed.
Lets hope the furloughs happened in Kentucky. That's certainly where I would have started the cuts.