Next chairman of Transportation Committee likes vibe from White House on roads, bridges, transit

By Ashley Halsey III
November 8

The next chairman of the House Transportation Committee hears renewed talk from the White House about investment in infrastructure and he jokes about Lucy always pulling away the football just as Charlie Brown is about to kick it.

“This is not going to get done without strong support from the president,” said Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.), who is expected to become chairman of the committee when the Democrats take control of the House in January. “The president is going to have to be fully on board if we’re going to move something in the Senate.”

President Trump, as a candidate in 2016, made investing in the nation’s crumbling infrastructure a key part of his campaign. After winning the White House, DeFazio said, Trump came under the influence of advisers who told him big projects could be funded by selling off infrastructure to private firms and attracting private capital.

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