"If the Congress is unable to act, the president does want to make certain that aviation security is attended to and he does have broad authority," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told The Associated Press.
The Senate finally voted Thursday to federalize the jobs of airport security screeners. But Bush opposes the plan because he says civil service rules could inhibit managers from firing bad workers. It was noted that Bush has executive power to order fortified cockpit doors, additional air marshals and more stringent standards for the hiring and training of baggage screeners.
The airport security bill now moves to the House of Representatives, although House leaders are on record as opposed to creating a new federal bureaucracy at airports.
Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, the House's third-ranking Republican, told The AP he would try to block consideration of an aviation security bill until he gets the votes for legislation that would increase federal supervision over screeners but keep them as private employees. The Aviation Security Association and the Bush administration have publicly supported this approach.
The aviation security bill passed the Senate on a 100-0 vote. It had been stalled for two weeks because of efforts to add aid for laid-off airline workers and money for Amtrak.
The stalemate on the aviation bill was broken Thursday when a procedural vote went against an amendment to link the bill to a $1.9 billion package to help laid-off aviation workers.
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