WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is continuing to operate the controversial cross-border Mexican trucking program despite language in a $555 billion appropriations bill signed by the president that seeks to eliminate the programs funding.

The administration move, while not unexpected, sparked outrage from Democratic and Republican members of Congress who had fought to kill the three-month-old pilot program, which allows long-haul Mexican trucks to travel throughout the United States.

"The administration seems to believe that the law doesn't apply to them," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., the author of the appropriations bill amendment that sought to cut funding for the program.

Dorgan and other opponents of the program say the amendments language is unambiguous, and that the administration action will be challenged in Congress and the courts.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration began implementing the one-year experimental program Sept. 6. It allows as many as 100 Mexican companies to send their trucks into the United States.

Supporters of the program view it as a step toward fulfilling the North American Free Trade Agreement obligation of the U.S. government to open all roads in the United States to trucks from all three countries.

Historically, Canadian trucking companies have had full access to U.S. roads, but since 1982, most Mexican trucks have been able to travel only about 20 miles inside the country at certain border crossings.

Dorgan, more than 100 other members of Congress and several interest groups, such as the Teamsters Union and independent truck drivers, contend the program lacks sufficient safeguards to ensure that Mexican trucks meet the same standards as American trucks.

Opponents of the program are incensed with how the administration parsed language to justify continuation of the program.

Dorgan's amendment to the appropriations bill included the following: "None of the funds made available under this Act may be used to establish a cross-border motor carrier demonstration program to allow Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones along the international border between the United States and Mexico."

Officials with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration stated that the amendment allows programs that have already begun to continue.

"(The) U.S. Department of Transportation will not establish any new demonstration programs with Mexico," a government statement said. "The current cross-border trucking demonstration project established in September will continue to operate in a manner that puts safety first."

Many observers expected the administration to follow this logic, but opponents say it is shaky.

"This is yet another example of a rogue administration thumbing its nose at Congress and thumbing its nose at the concerns of the American people," said Todd Spencer, spokesman for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

Court challenges have been filed.