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Road to Nowhere
Political bickering weakens chances for infrastructure plan
The likelihood of the U.S. seeing an infrastructure plan
anytime soon (maybe even before the 2020 elections) is
slipping away faster than a glass of cold water on a hot,
sweltering summer day.
Less than a month after President Donald Trump and
Democratic congressional leaders — spearheaded by
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. and Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — agreed to work
together on a $2 trillion infrastructure package, a second
round of negotiations went bust on May 22 when Trump
left the meeting, saying he won’t work with Democratic
lawmakers while they continue to investigate him.
Reportedly on the agenda for the second meeting was
to have been a discussion about where to come up with $2
trillion.
Trump took umbrage at Pelosi’s accusation earlier in the
day of him being “engaged in a coverup.”
Trump met briefly with Pelosi, Shumer and other
Democrats that day before exiting to address reporters in
the Rose Garden.
Speaking at the Capitol, Pelosi and Schumer suggested
that Trump was looking for excuses not to take up
infrastructure.
“He just took a pass,” Pelosi said. “And it just makes
me wonder why he did that. In any event, I pray for the
president of the United States and I pray for the United
States of America.”
And so, says Truckload Carrier Association Vice President
of Government Affairs David Heller, progress on an
infrastructure bill is at a standstill.
“They were supposed to have a hard conversation about
paying for the plan,” Heller said, “but obviously no one came
up with an answer.”
The problem now, he added, is the closer the nation
comes to the August Congressional recess and next year the
2020 elections, the harder it’s going to be to pass a funded
infrastructure bill.
“Going into May, I would have said there’s a 50-50 chance
of getting an infrastructure bill passed,” Heller said. “I’d say
the odds are much less now.”
The spat between Trump and the Democrats is nothing
but partisan politics, Heller said, and that’s a problem. He
suspects “politics are going to interrupt” any action on
working toward an infrastructure bill, especially as the 2020
elections draw closer.
The lack of an infrastructure plan is not good for the
trucking industry, Heller said.
“When you have projects that aren’t done, it leads to more
congestion, which impacts safe driving practices,” he said.
“Some of these needed projects have a tremendous impact
on delivering freight. You need new roads, you need extra
lanes of traffic. You need all these things to accommodate
how the demographics of the nation have developed. If you
By Lyndon Finney
don’t have an infrastructure plan, you can’t address these
needs.”
Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chairman of the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, criticized
Trump’s decision to walk out of the meeting.
“We have an infrastructure crisis in this country that
will only be resolved when President Trump agrees to put
partisan politics aside and get serious about investing in
our nation’s crumbling roads, bridges, transit systems,
harbors, airports, wastewater systems and more,” DeFazio
said. “After our initial meeting at the White House several
weeks back, I was hopeful we were seeing the first signs of
political courage that is so badly needed to make progress
and turn a campaign trail talking point into real action. It’s
disappointing that today the president and his team walked
back from both the $2 trillion proposal and from showing
leadership on how to pay for the package.”
There were obvious signs of trouble going into the May
22 meeting, with both sides being guarded about how they
would pay for such an investment. The White House released
a letter in which Trump let Pelosi and Schumer know his
preference for Congress taking up the proposed U.S. trade
deal with Mexico and Canada first.
“Once Congress has passed USMCA, we should turn our
attention to a bipartisan infrastructure package,” Trump said.
Pelosi and congressional Democrats had asked for
the May 22 meeting with Trump to discuss launching an
ambitious building program that’s a top priority for the party
and has been a rare area of potential bipartisan accord
with Republicans. Trump, too, has long promised a big
infrastructure plan.
The dozen Democratic lawmakers in the meeting with the
president had called it a constructive start. They said Trump
agreed that infrastructure investments should go beyond
roads and bridges and include broadband, water systems
and enhancements to the electrical grid.
In that meeting, Democrats also put the onus on Trump
to come up with a funding source.
There probably wasn’t much of a chance of the May
22 meeting yielding anything concrete because it played
out against the backdrop of high tensions over escalating
Democratic investigations following the release of Special
Counsel Robert Mueller’s report into Russian meddling.
Lawmakers and the Republican president also have an
eye on the 2020 elections, meaning every provision of an
infrastructure package — including how to pay for it — will
be made with that in mind.
At least one advocate for an infrastructure package boost
sees a narrow window for action.
“I think a deal can be had if everybody is willing to put
their battle-axes away for a period,” said former Rep. Bill
Shuster of Pennsylvania, R-Penn., who served as chairman
of the House’s transportation committee for six years.
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