Republicans on Capitol Hill are acting fast to help shape President Donald Trump's infrastructure bill now that it has been fast-tracked, The Hill reported.
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao met with several GOP lawmakers Wednesday, where she got input on ways to fulfill one of Trump's top campaign promises: fixing America's crumbling roads, bridges, and airports.
Originally slated for fall, the infrastructure bill got bumped up after the failure of an Obamacare repeal and replacement last month. Chao now says to expect action sometime in May.
Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., a former member of Trump's transition team, called that "music to my ears."
Trump "doesn’t wait very long," Barletta told The Hill. "He's moving forward quickly, and I think Congress needs to begin to run instead of skipping."
At Wednesday's hourlong meeting with lawmakers, Chao "talked about the infrastructure bill and how important it is to the president," House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster told The Hill. "Forty-five members were there asking lots of great questions."
But Rep. John Duncan Jr., R-Tenn., described it differently, saying, "It was a bunch of people asking questions, and they were very parochial questions about specific things in their districts."
Democrats, meanwhile, were not happy about being left out of the meeting, especially since the infrastructure bill is seen as being high in bipartisan support.
Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., called for Chao to meet with the entire Transportation Committee.
"Maybe then they wouldn't have the problems they had with the healthcare bill," she said.
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