Republicans opposing Democrats’ $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package have pointed to two transportation projects as examples of pork that would politically benefit Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.
Now those projects are out of the bill.
Drew Hammill, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said a subway extension through downtown San Jose did not meet requirements for inclusion in the bill.
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The project was set to receive about $141 million under the bill that passed the House.
Also, $1.5 million in funding to maintain and operate a bridge connecting Canada and the United States in upstate New York, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s home state, has been removed by Senate drafters of the bill.
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The projects represent a tiny fraction of the bill’s cost, but they became popular targets for Republicans opposing the measure, which they say is bloated and unfocused.
The subway extension was described as “Speaker Pelosi’s pork subway project.”
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The Senate bill is expected to largely mirror the House-approved package, with the biggest difference the Senate’s dropping of language boosting the federal minimum wage to $15.
Democrats are using special rules that will let them avoid GOP filibusters that would require them to garner an impossible 60 votes to approve the legislation.
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