Chao: Trump concerned about ‘viability’ of key Gateway projects

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao confirmed Tuesday that President Donald Trump personally urged top Republicans in Congress to block funding for the Hudson Tunnel and Portal Bridge between New York and New Jersey.

Trump asked House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) last week to remove $900 million from the House omnibus spending bill for those key projects that are part of the $30 billion Gateway program, a crucial infrastructure repair that affects the Northeast corridor, Newsday confirmed.

Pressed by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-Cold Spring) on whether Trump had made that personal appeal to Ryan to cut the Gateway funding in the spending bill, Chao said he had.

“Yes, the president is concerned about the viability of this project and the fact that New York and New Jersey have no skin in the game,” Chao said. “They need to step up and bear their fair share. They are two of the richest states in the country.”

Chao added: “If they absorb all these funds there will be no other funds for the rest of the country.”

Chao’s pushback on Gateway arises in part from Trump’s decision to rely on state and local governments and private investors to pay for the vast majority of his infrastructure initiative, which would use $200 billion in direct federal money to spur $1.5 trillion in overall spending.

But it also comes as Trump takes aim at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a prime booster of Gateway, for leading Senate Democrats to block his administration’s agenda and on political appointments.

At issue is the proposed funding of the tunnel and bridge projects: New York, New Jersey and their partner transit agencies and Amtrak would use a federal transportation grant to pay for half the project, and fund most of the remaining half with federal loans the states would repay.

“There has never been a [Capital Investment Grant] project that was allowed to go ahead with federal grants without local funding,” a senior administration official said.

Martin Robins, director emeritus of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University, disagreed. He said, “The loans were conceived as a local share because they are ultimately paid back by the local government.”

In October 2016, Schumer and then-Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced an agreement to that funding arrangement.

Chao said Tuesday, “The previous administration made no commitment except at a political rally in the heat of a campaign. There is no documentation evidencing any commitment. There’s no pending application on the nine projects that you collectively call Gateway.”

Last September, Trump convened nearly two dozen interested parties, including Schumer, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), the governors of New York and New Jersey, Chao and others, to discuss Gateway and infrastructure.

Schumer and King emerged optimistic they had won over Trump, though Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the meeting was “productive” but “inconclusive.”

The senior administration official speaking to reporters Tuesday said the Hudson tunnel and Portal Bridge projects fell among the bottom five of the 55 projects in the “queue” for the Transportation Department’s Capital Investment Grants. And the official objected to the $900 million in the spending bill as an earmark.

King criticized the move as a last-minute change.

“Not a word about any of this was raised when we met in the Cabinet with the President in September,” he said. “If they had any real concerns, why didn’t they mention them anytime in the 6 months since the meeting to any Senator or Congressman from New York or New Jersey? Loyalty and keeping your word is a two-way street.”