Rep. Don Young says the Senate overstepped its authority when it voted to seek a federal investigation of an altered earmark.

“What the Senate did was unconstitutional,” the Alaska Republican said Wednesday. “No other body can request an investigation on another body.”

The Senate included language calling for a criminal investigation in a bill (HR 1195) intended to make revisions to the 2005 highway law (PL 109-59).

Any Justice Department investigation would mean scrutiny of Young and his staff, since Young was chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee when a $10 million earmark was changed between final passage and presentation to President Bush.

“They can investigate if they want to,” Young said. “It doesn’t bother me a bit.”

Young characterized himself as unjustly tarred by falsehoods spread by reporters who are “not doing their homework.”

House Democratic leaders have not said how soon they’ll take up the bill and vote on the Senate’s amendments, but some Transportation panel members said a deal was in the works to clear the bill next week.