Transport Department furloughs 3700 employees as Democrats squabble over infrastructure bill

The US Congress dispute over the infrastructure bill has led to the Department of Transportation furloughing 3,700 employees on Friday as lawmakers failed to extend spending from the highway trust fund.

Most of the furloughed employees work for the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

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The highway trust fund is designed to provide the finances for long-term stability for road and transit projects. The fund expired on Thursday amid Democrats infighting over the $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a social spending deal. A section of democrats wants to finalise a deal on several trillion dollars in social spending before going for the infrastructure package backed by President Joe Biden.

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State transportation departments get reimbursements from the fund. According to a Washington Post report, the departments are expected to be able to keep paying their bills for a few weeks. The Transportation Department said in a statement that existing grants will continue to be paid.

“The Administration is continuing to work closely with Congress to swiftly reauthorize surface transportation programs and bring back the approximately 3700 hard working employees who are temporarily furloughed right now,” the statement said, according to the Washington Post.

“We are also taking every step we can to mitigate the impacts of this temporary lapse in authorization,” the statement added.

The US Congress could extend the fund for a short-term and some lawmakers are exploring the option.

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The options in front of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee are extending the fund for a month or extending it all the way to December with a $5 Billion bailout package as the fund money is on the verge of running out.

Any of the options could take several days to implement as the House of Representatives has to set the ball rolling due to it being a financial matter. The bill could take days to even reach the Senate floor.