Get Ready for Infrastructure Year

It’s become a joke around Washington that every week is “infrastructure week” at the White House, a policy focus derailed usually within the first few hours of Monday by news developments (or President Trump’s tweets).

But with the GOP tax bill now on its way to a conference committee and (Republicans hope) the president’s desk, the administration has its eye on its next big legislative agenda item: a big infrastructure bill that would provide about $220 billion in funding for roads, bridges, and more. The bill would also have statutory changes to the process by which states apply for and receive that funding.

The president meets with his infrastructure policy team regularly, and he did so again earlier this week. According to one White House official, the administration’s goal is to provide Congress with a set of infrastructure priorities sometime in January. The target for passing a bill is a little fuzzier, though two different administration officials said early summer 2018 seems reasonable.

The infrastructure bill is a long time coming, given that the proposal was first included in the Trump administration’s plans for its first 100 days. The reality of governing, plus the higher priority placed in Congress on Obamacare repeal and tax cuts, have pushed the issue back, but a White House official characterizes the delay as a benefit. “We have done more advance work on this issue than anything we’ve done in this White House,” says the official.

The administration remains vague on any details, something Republicans on Capitol Hill have been grumbling about. “We need a little guidance from the White House on they want to do,” says a GOP source.