A major, bipartisan transportation package could be on thin ice, with a key Democratic negotiator saying that the Trump administration’s actions threaten to derail the entire effort.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, ranking member on the Environment and Public Works Committee, said the administration’s unilateral funding cuts and project cancellations could kill any incentive for Democrats to come to the table as Congress ramps up discussions on a new surface transportation reauthorization bill.
“The chief danger right now to a good highway bill — or to any highway bill at all — is the rampant destruction of trust that the Trump administration is engaged in,” the Rhode Island Democrat said in a brief interview Thursday.
Whitehouse’s comments came one day after he used an EPW hearing to all but reject the possibility of a bipartisan accord on permitting reform while the administration continues to target Democrats’ favored energy sources.
