Democrats float potential infrastructure package as part of Congress’ next response to coronavirus

When President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday that he could support a $2 trillion infrastructure package to jumpstart the economy, it was welcome news for House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat who has been waiting for months to craft such an effort.

Lawmakers may be away from Capitol Hill, but negotiations have already quietly begun on what could become a fourth stimulus package to respond to the novel coronavirus. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Monday that she hopes to include more direct payments for individuals, money for state and local governments and infrastructure funding to address broadband and water systems in such a stimulus bill.

Discussions are taking place between Pelosi, top chairmen of key House committees and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin while Congress is out for most of April, with Democratic leaders aiming to hold a vote in the House when members return. Whether congressional Republicans will support the effort is unclear, but Trump’s backing of the infrastructure piece could lend it momentum.

Neal warned that when it comes to infrastructure, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has been “less enthusiastic,” but said the President’s tweet may help win over some reluctant supporters.

“I think we should go big on it,” Neal told CNN of the potential phase four package Tuesday. “The speaker and I have been talking about this for weeks.”

Infrastructure, which has been heralded by both sides for years as a potential bipartisan bright spot, has failed to materialize since Trump entered office. Democrats on Capitol Hill have taken issue with his proposal’s funding mechanisms, which place much of the burden on state and local governments and public-private partnerships. Democrats want the federal government to pick up most of the tab for a large infrastructure plan instead.

And while Democratic leaders were negotiating directly with Trump on the issue in the spring of 2019, a subsequent caustic Oval Office meeting left the prospects for cooperation dim. Impeachment didn’t help to ease tensions, nor did the looming election-year politics. But, the emergence of a global health crisis, and the resulting economic decline, has given lawmakers reason to come back to the table.

Trump and Pelosi haven’t spoken directly since October. Asked in an interview on MSNBC on Tuesday morning about her relationship with the President and if she should be in communication with him during this time, Pelosi said she has always spoken to presidents “on an as-needed basis.”

“If it’s necessary, I’m sure we will speak,” she said. She added that as long as Trump’s administration officials continue to represent him in negotiations with congressional Democrats, “I think that’s fine.”

“We speak to each other right now,” she said of the MSNBC hit, “and that’s what he really hears: What people say publicly, much more than what you might say in a call.”

Trump did hear her, tweeting later on Tuesday that he watched a portion of the interview, and “other than her usual complaining that I’m a terrible person, she wasn’t bad.”

Democrats say they believe passing an infrastructure stimulus can be a bipartisan goal. “I think the country is begging for infrastructure improvement,” Neal said.

Neal has been working closely with Mnuchin and Pelosi to hammer out the contours of the next package, and while Neal said he doesn’t expect lawmakers to finalize the legislation before lawmakers return from recess, he said the President’s tweet helped to bolster his position that infrastructure could provide the country with an economic boost to restart after coronavirus passes.

Other items the Ways and Means committee is looking at for “stimulus four” is an extension of the Small Business Association loan program, which already includes $350 billion in loans from the last package. The SBA handed out just $28 billion in fiscal year 2019, meaning the emergency aid loans are more than 12 times the regular amount the agency typically handles.

Neal suggested $2 trillion may not be out of the realm of possibility in future infrastructure spending, although he cautioned that no number has been decided on yet.