WASHINGTON – Pressing colleagues to replenish the “cash-for-clunkers” program, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid warned lawmakers they might miss their August vacation takeoff plans Friday if they don’t quickly pass the $2 billion measure.
“If we don’t work something out on the cash for clunkers,” Reid said from the Senate floor Wednesday morning, he would file motions to close debate. Under Senate procedure, that could mean votes on both Friday and Saturday, when lawmakers would otherwise be scattering for their coveted summer break.
“We all acknowledge there’s a significant majority that want to move forward with this legislation,” said Reid, D-Nev.
It was the senatorial version of a parents’ warning to bickering children: Work it out, or the car will be turned around instantly.