"The current plan is to see what the Senate can produce and to bring their bill up,” Boehner told his conference.

Secretary Steven Chu in a Thursday hearing sought to clarify comments Republicans say show the administration wants higher gas prices.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sounded a positive note on Thursday, suggesting the grueling month-long fight over the pending highway bill might soon be over. 

A series of votes the Senate is beginning Thursday on amendments to the chamber's $109 billion transportation measure could continue into the early part of next week.

Democrats have decried the amendments for weeks as being non-germane to road and public transit projects, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced late Wednesday night that he had reached a deal with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) to move forward with votes on the measures.

Under the agreement between the leaders, the Senate will consider 30 amendments that had prevented final approval of the transportation bill for nearly a month.

"We've reached agreement … on the surface transportation bill," Reid said from the Senate floor.

Quickly he added: "It's a huge job. We have 30 amendments we have to dispose of. So there is no question that senators should expect a number of votes tomorrow."

Your morning transportation speed-read: 

Wind gusts caused delays at Las Vegas's McCarran International Airport.

Airlines are competing for the right to offer new long-distance flights from Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport.

American Airlines says it will freeze — but not terminate — pensions during its bankruptcy proceedings.

The route of a proposed high-speed railway in California is coming under fire.

Reid said the Senate would begin considering 30 amendments on Thursday.

Deep fissures are dividing House Republicans on the highway bill and the 2013 budget.

A bill that would require the Transportation Security Administration to donate money left behind at airport security checkpoints by airline passengers to benefit military members has been approved by a House committee.

The measure, H.R. 2179, was sponsored by Florida Rep. Jeff Miller (R). It was approved by the House Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Transportation Security during a hearing Wednesday.

The approval was the first successful vote for the legislation, which was introduced in 2009. Miller praised the vote as a step toward fairness for airline passengers.

"The TSA has been keeping the money from your change purse to pay for their bloated bureaucracy,” Miller said in a statement released by his office. “If TSA representatives get to play ‘finders keepers’ with your hard-earned cash, what’s the incentive to try to get the loose change to its rightful owners?"

President Obama touted White House efforts to boost deployment of electric-powered and natural gas vehicles.