Democrats had hoped the one big policy area they could find common ground with President Donald Trump on was infrastructure, but The Associated Press reports they don’t like what they’re hearing from administration officials about the transportation portion of the plan that’s still in the works.
Trump has promised to generate $1 trillion in infrastructure spending over 10 years. But some Democrats say they worry that Trump’s plan will focus on trying to entice more private investment in transportation projects A reduction in regulations that require environmental reviews and community consultation on projects—rather than providing more government money to repair, replace and expand the nation’s transportation network—is also a concern.
Reps. Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia, two top Democrats on the House transportation committee, sent a letter Wednesday to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao objecting to comments she made last week about the failure to fix the nation’s crumbling transportation system.
“The problem is not money. It’s the delays caused by government permitting processes that hold up projects for years, even decades, making them risky investments,” Chao says, reiterating the statement Wednesday in a speech to the American Association of Port Authorities.
