WASHINGTON, DC - House appropriators this week will question Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood about President Obama's fiscal 2011 DOT spending request and the recent awarding of $8 billion in high-speed rail grants.

Obama's budget request is expected to include a spending freeze for most federal programs including transportation. The fiscal 2010 transportation spending package included $41 billion for federal highways, $10.7 billion for the Federal Transit Administration and $1.6 billion for Amtrak, all roughly in line with what Obama had requested. The spending measure also gave an additional $2.5 billion to high-speed rail, on top of the $8 billion in stimulus projects.

The annual spending bill serves mostly to fund DOT operations, leaving the bulk of the funding decision for federal spending on the nation's roads, rail and transit to the multiyear surface transportation authorization.

House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Olver (D-Mass.) and ranking member Tom Latham (R-Iowa) are expected to devote a large portion of Wednesday's hearing to question LaHood over DOT's recent high-speed rail grant decisions.

DOT handed out $8 billion in stimulus grants Thursday, dividing the cash among more than 30 states. The largest grant, $2.35 billion, went to California.

Republicans and some Democrats have criticized Obama's decision to spread the cash so thin, arguing the money would have been better invested in only a few major projects that could rival the top speeds of the European and Asian bullet trains many in Congress have lauded.