Pence says Trump to push infrastructure package after new Congress is sworn in

Vice President Pence in an interview that aired Monday on “Rising” said that President Trump would push an infrastructure reform package after the new Congress is sworn in next year. 

“There’s an infrastructure bill. This builder that became president would like to rebuild the infrastructure of America,” Pence told Hill.TV’s Buck Sexton on Friday. “Not only our roads and bridge, and highways and byways, and ports and airports.” 

“We think there’s an opportunity to work in a bipartisan way in the Congress of the United States to advance that,” he continued. 

Pence, in the same interview, said he believed Republicans would keep control in both the House and the Senate.

The Trump administration has struggled to prioritize overhauling the nation’s infrastructure. After the launch of “infrastructure week” last year, the idea was quickly overshadowed by unrelated stories dominating the news cycle.

The White House unveiled a plan to overhaul the nation’s infrastructure in February, which was quickly met with opposition in Congress. 

The plan called for $200 billion in federal money, with a goal of creating a $1.5 trillion investment by incentivizing private and local investors.

Democrats opposed the plan arguing that it overly depended on funding from the private sector, as well as state and local governments. 

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) also pushed aside the idea of a comprehensive overhaul, saying the president’s plan would come in “five or six different bills.” 

— Julia Manchester