President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders from Congress this week agreed to work on an infrastructure deal worth $2 trillion.
Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the talks this week productive.
However, acting chief of staff for the Trump administration, Mick Mulvaney, told Fox Business Network there’s a much better chance the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement would pass, casting doubt on an infrastructure deal.
Mulvaney says any agreement would break down over the administration’s determination to change environmental laws and other regulations, as Mulvaney seeks to waive environmental rules to allow for quick construction.
Democrats want to expand the agreement beyond infrastructure.
Speaking to reporters, Pelosi said the agreement is about jobs, and “clean air, clean water,” and called infrastructure a quality of life issue in “getting people out of their cars.”
Pelosi says the president agrees the deal should include broadband infrastructure improvements. More meetings are planned three weeks from now to seek ways to fund the plan.