WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two thousand federal transportation workers are being furloughed without pay today and the Obama administration says they have Kentucky Republican Sen. Jim Bunning to thank.
Federal reimbursements to states for highway programs will also be halted, amounting to about $190 million a day. An extension of unemployment benefits is also a casualty.
The temporary furloughs and freeze on payments are the result of a decision last week by Bunning to block the legislation to extend the programs which expired at midnight Sunday.
Bunning objected to the $10 billion measure, saying it would add to the budget deficit.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., the Senate's second-ranking Republican leader, told "Fox News Sunday" that he expects GOP lawmakers will vote to extend unemployment benefits this week.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
