Elections: GOP House Takeover, Senate Gains May Threaten Spending Bills
Iti's about midnight Eastern time, and pre-election predictions are holding true: Networks projected about three hours ago that Republicans will take control of the House and CNN just projected that Democrats will keep a majority of the Senate.
That projection goes along with a forecast that Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) will win a closely watched re-election race against GOP challenger Carly Fiorina.
Republicans appear to have picked up some Senate seats, but not the net gain of 10 they needed for a majority in that chamber.
If forecasts prove accurate, a key question for construction in the new Congress is: Will the Republicans' strong call to cut federal spending mean trouble for infrastructure spending bills?
Some major funding bills are on deck for 2011, with the top item on that list the surface transportation reauthorization, which is more than a year overdue.
Other important spending bills include 2011 appropriations and a multi-year aviation measure.
As ENR reported in its pre-election coverage, Republicans laid out their principles in their Pledge to America, which they issued inSeptember. It includes a call to "roll back government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels." Cuts wouldn't apply to defense and veterans' programs.
The expected new House Speaker, Rep. John Boehner(R-Ohio), just spoke, saying that now is not the time for Republicans to celebrate. Among other things, he said, "We can celebrate when the spending binge here in Washington has stopped."
ENR will provide more election coverage on enr.com Wednesday.