DEMS/GOP/INFRASTRUCTURE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration this week laid out an infrastructure plan designed to win support from both parties: Republicans, who would like its plan to speed up environmental reviews, and Democrats who endorse its new pool of money for public-works projects.
Congressional leaders, though, have other ideas, and may divide the package into several pieces to get some of it passed in a tough legislative year, according to lawmakers and aides. The development could signal trouble for what the Trump administration hoped would be a single, comprehensive piece of legislation revising how public works are funded and built.
The leaders’ strategy might allow some parts of the proposal that could win bipartisan support to become law on their own, even as the bulk of the package faces resistance from spending hawks in the Republican majority and Democrats who worry it would push spending obligations onto cities and states… The White House has framed the discussion of its package as a single omnibus legislative effort, a classic something-for-everyone approach that could help bring along broad support…
The infrastructure package had already faced a tough road in Congress, with midterm elections coming in November. Some lawmakers are concerned about cuts to certain areas of the budget to pay for the federal government’s $200 billion share of Mr. Trump’s infrastructure plan. The administration has declined to lay out specific cuts it seeks to pay for the package, saying Congress must decide.”
-Ted Mann and Natalie Andrews, “Lawmakers Consider Carving Up Trump’s Infrastructure Proposal,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 13, 2018 06:17pm