President Trump Friday said an infrastructure spending bill could move through Congress and that he is prepared to work with Democrats on it.
“The easiest thing is infrastructure,” the president said Thursday in an interview with Maria Bartiromo. “They want it. I want it.”
Trump said he spoke with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., “the other day,” and that he thinks they are on the same page.
“We agree on it,” he said. “We even like the type. I think we like the type of infrastructure we’re talking about, maybe, in a certain way, more Democrat, from my standpoint, than the Republican concept.”
The president rolled out a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan in February 2018, but Congress did not put a bill forward. Now, Congress and the president seem ready to work on a bipartisan infrastructure bill that could be considered by House committees as early as May or June.
Several House committees have already held preliminary hearings on the issue.
Trump also recently mentioned infrastructure in his State of the Union address, calling on Congress to “unite” to pass a bill. His plan, as outlined in 2018, would rely heavily on state, local, and private investment.
Though both Democrats and Republicans have indicated eagerness to get moving on infrastructure, one sticking point might be funding. While many are in favor of a gas tax hike, others prefer tolls or taxes on vehicle miles traveled.
[Related: Greens grasp for silver lining in Trump’s infrastructure pitch]
