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WASHINGTON — Congress will pass legislation aimed at keeping certain jobless benefits, highway-and-transit money and other government programs funded, Sen. Jon Kyl, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, said Sunday.

But the approval was highly unlikely to come before this morning.

Several programs were to expire at midnight, and Congress had failed to extend them because of an objection by Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky. Bunning wants the $10 billion price offset by budget reductions.

The Senate is not expected to act until Tuesday at the earliest, which means as of this morning, certain extended jobless benefits will not be available. Neither will some highway or transit funds, small- business loans or help for newly laid-off workers for their insurance premiums.

Kyl, though, told “Fox News Sunday” flatly, “It will pass.”

The Arizona senator also sympathized with Bunning. Recently, Congress adopted “pay as you go” rules mandating in many cases that new programs must be paid for. So why, Bunning asked, if these extensions are so popular, can’t Congress find the money to fund them?

“Congress just passed the so-called pay-go legislation, which is supposed to require we find offsets or other savings if we’re going to spend money,” Kyl said. “And what’s the first thing we do? We exempt this bill from it.” But he said it will pass since it extends the programs only about a month. McClatchy Newspapers