A weekend shutdown of federal highway programs was averted Thursday when the Senate signed off on a 90-day extension approved earlier by the House.

The extension, the ninth for the transportation bill, kicks the can down the road until June 30.

I would hope that during the Easter recess the House would be able to come back with something ... or accept our bill, which is our preference, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.

But in the heat of an election year, the prospect of either side giving in appears unlikely.

Plans for a Miami-Orlando passenger rail service call for fast trains to roll up and down Florida's central east coast -- but not to stop at any of the cities along a 140-mile stretch from Martin to Brevard counties.

"All Aboard Florida" would run on existing Florida East Coast Railway tracks between Miami and Cocoa, and then use some 40 miles of new rails to connect inland to Orlando.

FEC Industries' announcement of the route last week initially excited Treasure and Space coast residents who have been without coastal rail service since Amtrak departed in 1968.

Another Capitol Hill showdown threatens to shut down the Highway Trust Fund on Saturday, halting billions of dollars worth of road projects.

On the positive side, motorists could see an immediate 18-cent reduction at the pump if the federal gasoline tax expires, too.

A two-year, $109 billion funding measure approved by the Senate is going nowhere in the House, but the House has not been able to pass its own plan.

Unless lawmakers come to an agreement, the current highway funding program will expire at midnight Saturday.

While Obamacare supporters dominated the demonstrations outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, government lawyers inside were run through a gauntlet of sharp questions.

Opponents of the controversial health-care law felt bullish about the second day of oral arguments at the high court.

"We're pleased with the questions the justices have been asking," said Pam Bondi, attorney general of Florida, which is leading 26 states in challenging the law.

In the aftermath of a botched local vote, Palm Beach County's supervisor of elections is looking at a tough re-election run of her own.

Susan Bucher is feeling heat from the Republican Party and a Democratic rival who announced he would challenge her for the job this fall.

"There's a profound lack of confidence on our side that goes beyond the Wellington elections. People on my Republican Executive Committee are absolutely convinced Susan has a political agenda for this November," said Palm Beach County GOP Chairman Sid Dinerstein.

A coalition of 86 tea party groups around Florida is calling on Gov. Rick Scott to veto four bills passed by the 2012 Legislature, including one authorizing the creation of a freestanding Polytechnic University.

Saying the bills "violate our principles of limited government and fiscal responsibility," the Tea Party Network, in a letter to Scott, targeted:

With public support for Obamacare flat-lining, the president's signature legislation faces round two of a three-day hearing at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.

A CBS/New York Times poll released Monday showed that just 36 percent of Americans "strongly" or "somewhat" support the law. Other public opinion polls have consistently found a majority opposing the health-care initiative passed by Congress two years ago.

Oral arguments at the high court Monday revolved around an "anti-injunction act" that bars judges from ruling on taxes until those levies have been collected.

As the U.S. Supreme Court begins three days of hearings on the constitutionality of Obamacare Monday morning, Justice Elena Kagan is in the spotlight.

President Barack Obama's former solicitor general, whom he elevated to the high court, is expected to participate in the oral arguments -- despite repeated calls for Kagan to recuse herself, or to at least better explain her reasons for staying on the case.

In a letter to Kagan on March 22, Judicial Watch stated:

Vice President Joe Biden, Barack Obama's envoy to the white working class, revved up a crowd of South Florida retirees Friday.

Speaking at the blue-collar retirement community of Wynmoor Village in Coconut Creek, Biden hammered at the theme of "economic security for America's seniors" and ripped into Republicans.

"Theres no question that the aging of the baby boomers puts new pressures on Medicare and Social Security," the Delaware Democrat told an overflow crowd of 600 residents aged 55-plus.

Republican Reps. John Mica and Sandy Adams -- locked in a battle for Central Florida's 7th Congressional District -- are trading barbs over who's raising the most money and where.

Adams, a freshman from Oviedo, says Mica raised less than 1 percent of his campaign cash from residents of his district.

Mica, a 10-term veteran and chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, counters that Adams relied heavily on out-of-district contributions during her campaigns for the Florida House.