Obama threatens to veto $55 billion Republican transportation bill

Updated Jun 5, 2015

Transportation funding remains in limbo after a recent patch, and President Barack Obama is threatening to veto a $55 billion bill because it isn’t enough of an increase over current funding levels.

According to The Hill, the White House said the president would veto the Republican bill if it made it to his desk. The administration said the THUD measure doesn’t provide enough funding for transportation or housing programs.

Obama was also against the policy riders in the bill that involve truck driver scheduling as well as travel restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba.

The bill, passed by the House Appropriations Committee in May, would provide $1.5 billion more than current spending levels, but it’s still $9.7 billion less than Obama’s GROW America Act.

“The bill freezes or cuts critical investment in transportation that creates jobs, helps to grow the economy, and improves America’s roads, bridges, transit infrastructure, and aviation systems, benefiting towns and cities across the United States, as well as investments in ending homelessness, strengthening communities, and providing rental housing assistance for poor and vulnerable families,” a statement from the Obama Administration said.

Transportation funding has a been a point of contention in Washington, D.C., in recent months as the May 31 deadline to extend the Highway Trust Fund drew near. A short-term patch was passed by Congress and signed into law by Obama, but it simply sets up another deadline in July.

Democrats and Republicans have called for a long-term solution for funding the country’s infrastructure, but the two sides haven’t been able to agree on where the money would come from.