lahood

With information only on the first $69 million of the $1 billion spent on a taxpayer-sponsored voucher program, some lawmakers and environmentalists are calling on Congress to hold off on shelling out $2 billion more.

Federal strategies for tackling climate change are doomed to fail without concerted efforts to keep Americans out of their cars — efforts that will necessarily include a greater emphasis on public transit, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Senate lawmakers Tuesday.

Though big labor was dealt a blow last week by news that the Employee Free Choice Act will likely not make it to the floor, they’ve quietly scored a big win.

In his fifth press conference in as many days this week, President-elect Obama completed his cabinet appointments, tapping Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) as secretary of labor and Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) as secretary of transportation. He also named former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk as the U.S. trade representative, a cabinet-level post, and selected Karen Mills [...]