In testy exchanges with several Democratic lawmakers Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao confirmed that President Trump is personally intervening to block Congress from funding a key infrastructure project.
The Washington Post reported Friday that Trump asked House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) last week to keep funding for the Gateway project, which would improve passenger rail access to and from Manhattan, out of an omnibus spending bill that Congress is set to take up later this month.
Under questioning before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday, Chao told lawmakers that state officials in New Jersey and New York need to make firmer commitments to financing the project, which altogether is expected to cost $30 billion.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) pressed Chao on the president’s involvement and whether he personally asked Ryan to block Gateway funding, which could exceed $900 million in the coming spending bill.
Chao at first declined to say, saying “I read it in the newspapers just like you did” and directing questions to the White House. But Maloney returned to the question: “Is the president of the United States personally intervening with the speaker to kill this project?”
“Yes,” Chao replied. “The president is concerned about the viability of this project and the fact that New York and New Jersey have no skin in the game. They need to step up and bear their fair share. They are two of the richest states in the country. If they absorb all these funds, there will be no other funds for the rest of the country.”
