Commuters React Angrily Over House GOP’s Proposed 64 Percent Amtrak Budget Cut

Unions, rail-riders pound lawmakers’ phones, offices as chamber debates transportation budget Senate is certain to reject, President Biden has vowed to veto.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks at an event marking Amtrak's 50th Anniversary at the William H. Gray III 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Pa., on April 30, 2021. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Amtrak may be a money-loser, but as House Republicans are learning, it has millions of defenders who are being directed by unions and rail-rider commuter groups to pound lawmakers’ offices in an effort to derail the chamber’s proposed 64 percent slash in the quasi-public, federally subsidized train operation’s budget.

They’re calling Congressional reps’ offices right this instant as the House spends a second day deliberating its proposed $93 billion Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) budget with the sun setting Nov. 7 and many more amendments to go.