The House is expected to debate legislation that would eliminate stimulus funds for high-speed rail that have yet to be awarded.

A Democratic source told The Hill Thursday that the provision, which is included in the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill, will be on the House floor Thursday at noon. The measure would eliminate $2.3 billion from the roughly $789 billion 2009 stimulus package, including $1.6 billion that was just announced in May.

Much of the leftover money was redirected to 15 states after Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) turned down $2.4 billion for a line that would have connected Tampa to Orlando.

The Congressional Bicameral High-Speed & Intercity Passenger Rail Caucus says the funds that would be eliminated would affect rail projects in the districts of 168 lawmakers. Ninety-two are held by Democrats and 76 by Republicans.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

A man was arrested for skinny-dipping near New York's John F. Kennedy airport.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) supports the Republican surface transportation bill proposal, even though it would cut funding to his state.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's plan to mediate a disagreement on Washington, D.C.'s MetroRail expansion to Dulles International Airport is being met with skepticism.

Officials are trying to convince riders that Amtrak's Downeaster route is safe after a train hit a truck on the route.

The Transportation Security Administration caught a passenger trying to board an airplane with 13 knives in his carry-on luggage, the agency confirmed Wednesday.

TSA spokesman Kawika Riley told The Hill Wednesday afternoon that TSA officers at the Thurgood Marshall Baltimore/Washington International Airport discovered the weapons after the passenger's bag was scanned by an X-Ray machine.

The bag was then searched by hand, which led to the discovery of the knives. The passenger was arrested and the incident did not cause any flight delays.

Lawmakers took the TSA to task for some 25,000 airport perimeter breaches since 2001.

The Congressional Research Service said this week that the House Republican plan to privatizing rail service currently provided by Amtrak would violate the Takings Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Looking into the proposal at the behest of Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the CRS ruled that the proposal to transfer assets in the Northeast Rail Corridor currently owned by Amtrak to the Department of Transportation runs afoul of the constitutional provision that requires compensation for transactions of value.

"The terms of the clause make plain that if the proposed bill were enacted, Amtrak would be able to invoke the clause's protections if (1) Amtrak may be regarded as an entity outside the federal government for Takings Clause purposes … (2) the Amtrak assets to be transferred to the Secretary are 'property' under the Clause and (3) the transfer is a 'taking' under the clause," the CRS report obtained by The Hill said.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday that the Federal Transit Administration would make $47 million available to a proposed streetcar program in Atlanta, so that construction could begin.

The money, which comes in the form of a grant from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, will go to a proposed 2.6-mile electric streetcar route through the heart of the city's downtown.

LaHood said Monday the project would ease congestion in the large southern city and create jobs.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) told the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that he will use another panel to get information from the agency he has harshly clashed with.

Mica, who helped write the legislation that created the TSA, has repeatedly accused the agency of stonewalling his committee, most recently when he tried to investigate delays in the creation of a biometric pilot license Congress ordered the TSA to create.

TSA has argued that it is not under the jurisdiction of Mica's committee, but the Florida representative said Wednesday morning that he would work through another panel to press the agency for information.

"If you refuse to cooperate with my committee ... I have had and will continue to have the cooperation of this subcommittee, on which I serve, and the full committee," Mica said at the start of a meeting of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "And we will get the data, whether it's this or other activities which you've refused to give us information on.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

A throwing star was found in a woman's luggage at southern California's Ontario International Airport.

The Heritage Foundation doesn't like the idea of the Transportation Security Administration having a union.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is going to Orlando, Fla. for the groundbreaking of a commuter rail there.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has signed a law making texting-while-driving a primary offense.

TSA defended its procedures after a Republican lawmaker circulated a critical report.