HYBRID

NYT: Trump Mulls Tying Infrastructure With Health-Care or Tax Reform

May try to package with health care to win Dem support.

President Trump said he wants to fast-track a $1 trillion infrastructure plan and package it with health-care or tax-reform legislation in a bid to get Democratic lawmakers’ support. Trump made the announcement in an interview with The New York Times published Wednesday. The 10-year infrastructure plan was expected to be unveiled later this year, with $1 trillion going toward modernizing U.S. roads, bridges, airports, electrical grid, and water systems. “I’m thinking about accelerating it. I’m thinking about putting it with another bill. Could be health-care, could be something else. Could be tax reform,” Trump told the Times. He provided no timeline on how soon the infrastructure plan would be rolled out, but said Democratic lawmakers “are desperate for infrastructure” and would be more likely to back Republican plans for health-care or tax reform if they were packaged with the infrastructure initiative. “We’re talking about a trillion-dollar infrastructure,” he said. Trump’s first legislative endeavor went down in flames two weeks ago when Congress failed to approve his plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Trump’s administration has since attempted to relaunch talks on health care while at the same time seeking out other legislative initiatives that would be sure to get support.