President Donald Trump set his sights towards passing a long-awaited national infrastructure bill on Monday, saying it’s time to “invest in our country” following last week’s historic budget agreement that funds the federal government for an addition two-years.
The Commander-in-Chief is calling on Congressional leaders to reach an agreement on his recently unveiled 1.5 trillion plan to reinvest, restructure, and fix America’s deteriorating infrastructure; urging the building of new airports, highways, tunnels, bridges, and more.
“This will be a big week for Infrastructure. After so stupidly spending $7 trillion in the Middle East, it is now time to start investing in OUR Country!” Trump tweeted.
This will be a big week for Infrastructure. After so stupidly spending $7 trillion in the Middle East, it is now time to start investing in OUR Country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2018
The President spoke last week at a GOP conference in West Virginia, urging Republican lawmakers to get behind his infrastructure bill and calling on Congress to slash “red tape” in securing contracts to begin the long-awaited construction projects.
“We used to build them in three months, and now it takes years and years of approvals. We’re going to bring that down, ideally, to one year. Two years is our goal, but one year is our real goal,” Trump said.
DONE DEAL: President Trump Signs HISTORIC TWO-YEAR Budget Agreement
Just hours after the House of Representatives passed a historic $400 billion budget agreement in the early hours Friday morning, President Trump signed the bill into law; funding the federal government for an additional two-years and averting a second ‘Schumer Shutdown.’
The House voted 240-186 to technically ‘re-open’ the government after GOP Sen. Rand Paul effectively shut down the United States government for hours after he blocked a late-night vote with his fiery speech on the Senate floor.
“Just signed Bill. Our Military will now be stronger than ever before. We love and need our Military and gave them everything — and more. First time this has happened in a long time. Also means JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!” tweeted the President.
“Ultimately, neither side got everything it wanted in this agreement, but we reached a bipartisan compromise that puts the safety and well-being of the American people first,” said Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. “Once the president signs this bill into law, we will have a clear path to pursue our ambitious agenda for 2018.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi predictably voted against the bipartisan budget agreement, claiming it did little to protect millions of ‘Dreamers’ currently residing in the United States.
SCHUMER CAVES AGAIN: Dems DROPPING DACA Demand from Budget Bill
Senate Democrats are backing-off their insistence that any long-term budget agreement include a deal on DACA, dropping their high-stakes demand to protect ‘Dreamers’ and boosting the possibility of striking an arrangement with GOP leadership.
According to Politico, leading Democratic negotiators told their Republican counterparts of the new stance on immigration following their public failure in shutting down the federal government; just to re-open it three days later without any concessions.
“We’re viewing [immigration and spending] on separate terms because they are on separate paths,” said Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin.
“Procedural concession means we’ve got a deadline and a process,” Durbin added. “That to me is a significant step forward. It’s not everything I wanted, that’s for sure, but it’s a step forward.”
The arrangement is raising eyebrows amongst Democrats in the House of Representatives, particularly from the progressive left-wing of the party; many of whom insist DACA be included in any budget agreement.
“We are insisting that these things be in the same negotiation,” said one House Democratic aide. “To us, what’s important is are these talks linked or not linked? To us, they are linked.”