Trump Calls for New $2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill
President says it should be ‘VERY BIG & BOLD’ with focus on jobs, infrastructure
President Trump on Tuesday said a significant investment in infrastructure should be part of a fourth congressional coronavirus relief package, citing an opportunity in low interest rates.
“With interest rates for the United States being at ZERO, this is the time to do our decades long awaited Infrastructure Bill,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country!”
Asked at a press briefing later Tuesday how he proposes to pay for the plan, Mr. Trump said, “we’re going to borrow the money at zero-percent interest.”
He added: “Our interest payments would be almost zero and we can borrow long term. People want to be in the United States. They want to be invested in the United States.”
In a reference to a possible fourth round of legislation responding to the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 3,000 people in the U.S., Mr. Trump tweeted: “Phase 4.”
The divided Congress has already passed three major pieces of legislation to address the pandemic: a roughly $2 trillion stimulus bill that includes checks to households, bailouts for airlines and other distressed industries, and loans and grants for small business; an earlier package of tax credits and increases for unemployment benefits and food assistance; and fresh funds for health agencies and virus testing.
Democrats and Mr. Trump have long shared the goal of passing a major infrastructure bill and repeatedly failed to do so, unable to overcome differences over how to pay for the new investments.
Still, lawmakers in both parties echo Mr. Trump’s desire to include infrastructure investments in future stimulus efforts.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) has said in a number of press appearances in recent days that she wants the next bill to include funding for infrastructure with a focus on expanding broadband access and overhauling water supplies. She said she intends for the bill to be bipartisan.
“In addition to that, it’s an economic issue, it’s a job issue; it creates jobs immediately to build the infrastructure,” she said on a press call Monday.
Mrs. Pelosi has also said she envisions a phase-four bill would pay for some growing workplace needs: medical leave, more protections for those at risk of infection, government funds to pay for coronavirus tests and help for pension funds at risk because of the economic jolt.
The Federal Reserve on March 15 slashed its benchmark interest rate to near zero, describing the move as an urgent response to the new coronavirus pandemic.
Whether chambers of Congress take up a fourth round of legislation is unclear, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Tuesday morning he wasn’t sure it would be necessary to craft another bill.
“I think, first, we need to see what the effect of the current bill is,” Mr. McConnell said on “The Hugh Hewitt Show.” “Let’s see how things are going and respond accordingly.”
Mrs. Pelosi also said Tuesday she wanted to expand vote-by-mail ahead of the November election.
Both the Democratic-controlled House and the GOP-led Senate left Washington after completing the $2 trillion relief bill last week. Lawmakers in both chambers have become infected with Covid-19. Mrs. Pelosi said Democrats would prepare a new bill remotely in the coming weeks and return to Washington to vote on it, though that won’t likely happen until after April 20.
Mr. McConnell said in his radio interview on Tuesday that he was wary of Mrs. Pelosi’s effort to put together another bill so quickly.
“I’m not going to allow this to be an opportunity for the Democrats to achieve unrelated policy items that they would not otherwise be able to pass,” he said.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly sought an infrastructure deal throughout his presidency. Last year, Congressional Democrats met with Mr. Trump on the issue and said he had pledged to seek a $2 trillion package. But it was unclear at the time how he would get Republicans on board or how it would be funded, and the collaboration quickly fell apart. The year before, the White House pitched a plan, which didn’t advance, in which cities and states would pay for the bulk of infrastructure costs.
While lawmakers from both parties and Mr. Trump agree on the need for infrastructure investments, they disagree on how to pay for them and what exactly would be included in such legislation. One often-discussed funding option would be by increasing the federal gasoline tax, but some Republicans oppose tax increases, and some Democrats see such a move as regressive.