House approves third highway fund extension

WASHINGTON, April 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. House approved a two-month extension of federal highway funding Wednesday as GOP leaders look to a deal with the White House on future funding.

House and Senate Republican leaders have been negotiating a final 6-year transportation construction spending bill for some time with funding at levels the White House opposes as too high.

The Senate version of the bill would provide $318 billion in funding and the House version $284 billion.

The Bush administration has a target of $256 billion for the measure.

The Senate is expected to approve the extension by Thursday, which is the third enacted since the existing law expired last September.

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., have a meeting scheduled with President Bush Thursday to discuss the issue, but Senate Democrats are enraged by what they view is another in a series of moves to exclude them from the lawmaking process.