President Donald Trump’s plan to boost U.S. public works is prompting sharp opposition from Democrats who are key to getting it legislated, putting the administration on the defensive as it seeks to remodel the way projects are approved and financed, Bloomberg informs.
Hours after the White House on Monday released its 53-page infrastructure plan, the administration was countering complaints from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats that the president was proposing more cuts in his 2019 budget than the $200 billion allocated for the initiative.
“This is not a real infrastructure plan,” Oregon Representative Peter DeFazio, the top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said in a statement. “It is simply another scam.”
Republicans were mostly silent about Trump’s proposal to stimulate $1.5 trillion in new investment for public works and focused instead on the elements of the legislative outline that would reduce the permitting time for projects to two years or less. The plan, which was a year in the making, is intended to give Congress a road map for legislation. Democratic votes will be needed because a measure likely can’t pass the Senate with only Republican votes.
“Our infrastructure plan has been put forward and has received great reviews by everyone except, of course, the Democrats,” Trump tweeted Tuesday morning. “After many years we have taken care of our Military, now we have to fix our roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and more. Bipartisan, make deal Dems?”
The rollouts of the infrastructure and budget plans on the same day quickly sparked a dispute between leading Democrats and the administration. Democrats, who have called for a $1 trillion federal commitment for infrastructure, criticized Trump for proposing to spend $200 billion while cutting funding for transit and other transportation programs even more deeply in his budget proposal. Schumer said he counted more than $240 billion in cuts.
Be the first to comment