As a follow-up to an earlier meeting in which President Trump and Democratic congressional leaders agreed to invest $2 trillion in America’s infrastructure, the President and Democratic leadership met Wednesday, May 22, to discuss funding proposals. President Trump sent a letter to Democratic leadership advising that before taking up infrastructure, Congress needed to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and asking that the Democrats specify their infrastructure priorities and the level of funding they want to dedicate to each priority.
The meeting was intended to be a discussion of how to pay for the infrastructure package. In recent days, reports have indicated that the President is not considering raising the federal gas tax to pay for infrastructure. Instead, the meeting lasted just a few minutes, with the President informing the Democratic leaders that he would not work with them on infrastructure while the Democrats in Congress continued their investigations of him. These developments come on the heels of an internal Democratic caucus meeting in which Speaker Pelosi addressed efforts to begin impeachment proceedings, reportedly saying that she believed the President was engaged in a cover-up. After his brief interaction with Democratic leadership, the President proceeded to a press conference in the Rose Garden. Read Politico’s coverage here.
Congressional leaders continue to pledge to work toward an infrastructure investment, and NRMCA and our allied associations continue to lobby members of both parties on Capitol Hill for an infrastructure package and a sustainable funding stream for the Highway Trust Fund. The current surface transportation authorization will expire in 2020.
For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org.
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