Dive Brief:
- President-elect Donald Trump is planning to create a "task force" to execute his infrastructure proposals, sources told The Washington Post. According to The Post, the task force plan is in its preliminary phase, and there are no specific projects on the table yet.
- The head of the task force, who has not yet been identified, will not serve as a member of the new cabinet but will most likely lead with a status similar to that of President Barack Obama's "czar" appointees.
- The program chief will be charged with implementing initiatives and facilitating communication between investors and governmental agencies.
Dive Insight:
Trump has drawn major attention for his $1 trillion infrastructure spending proposal. His advisers outlined a plan that they said would bring in the necessary investment in exchange for an 82% tax credit. The Trump team said the tax credit — most likely targeted toward revenue-generating projects — would pay for itself when construction companies and individual workers begin to pay taxes on the money they earn working on the projects.
Trump announced in November his plans to nominate former labor secretary Elaine Chao as his transportation secretary. Chao is also the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The Trump team is reportedly looking for someone who can work with both parties to run the infrastructure task force. This is critical as already Democrats and Republicans are drawing their lines in the sand about what elements of an infrastructure spending program they won't support.
Incoming Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (NY) called the tax break idea a "gimmick" and said it was a nonstarter. He added that if Congress could come to an agreement with Trump around a new infrastructure plan, he believes that lawmakers could pass a bill within the first 100 days of the new president's administration. McConnell later issued his own statement about infrastructure spending, which centered around his opposition to any stimulus plan.
