Nation in brief

Senate approves Bush's choice to lead HUD

WASHINGTON - The Senate approved President Bush's nominee for housing secretary, Alphonso Jackson, on Wednesday, despite threats from Democrats to block the nomination in protest of White House appointments of federal judges while Congress is out of session.

Jackson's nomination was approved with other nominees on unanimous consent.

Earlier Wednesday, aides to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said it appeared Jackson's nomination would face the same kind of opposition on the Senate floor as other administration nominees. But his aides said later they were mistaken to include Jackson's nomination among those covered by the threat.

Jackson was the agency's top deputy the past three years. He has been acting secretary since December, when Mel Martinez stepped down to run for the Senate.

ATLANTA - The Georgia House voted Wednesday to put a gay marriage ban in the state Constitution.

The 122-52 vote gave final approval to an amendment that will appear on the state ballot this fall. If voters agree, the state Constitution would say Georgia will not recognize same-sex unions, even if they're performed in other states.

Gay marriage is illegal in Georgia, but the matter is not addressed in its Constitution. Amendment supporters said the law would not prevent a judge from allowing same-sex couples to marry.

WASHINGTON - Citing executive privilege, the White House refused to allow President Bush's chief health policy adviser, Douglas Badger, to testify Thursday before the House Ways and Means Committee about early administration estimates that the new Medicare prescription-drug benefit would be far more costly than many lawmakers believed when they voted for it.

White House spokesman Trent Duffy said the decision not to let Badger testify was justified by the longstanding principle that exempts assistants to the president from testifying before Congress.

Several Ways and Means Committee members wanted to know whether Badger suppressed or passed on to senior Bush administration officials figures he obtained in early June indicating that the drug benefit might cost more than $500-billion in its first 10 years.

RURAL HOSPITALS TO GET MORE MONEY: Rural hospitals will see increases in Medicare payments starting today under provisions of the new Medicare law, the government said. The new payment rates will raise Medicare reimbursements for small hospitals in rural areas that serve a disproportionate share of elderly or disabled patients with low incomes.

WASHINGTON - A major highway and transit spending bill temporarily stalled Wednesday in the House as Republican leaders struggled to deal with a presidential veto threat and disunity within their ranks.

After hours of closed-door meetings, House Republicans said they were ready to try again today to pass a six-year, $275-billion bill.

WASHINGTON - Seven companies have agreed to jointly apply for a license to build a new commercial nuclear power plant, the first new reactor application to be filed in three decades, the companies announced Wednesday.

The five energy companies and two reactor vendors emphasized that none of the companies have made a commitment to build a new plant, but are taking the move to test the government's streamlined licensing process.

The companies intend to commit $7-million a year to the effort under a cost-sharing program with the Energy Department. The goal is to get license approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by 2010.

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