Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) are expected to meet next week with President Trump for a second round of talks on an infrastructure package.
A Democratic aide confirmed that the two congressional leaders are tentatively scheduled visit the White House next Wednesday morning. It’s unclear if other lawmakers will also attend, the aide said.
{mosads}A Senate aide added that the president is expected to present his plans for how to pay for the proposal.
Democratic lawmakers met with Trump late last month at the White House, where the two sides agreed to pursue a $2 trillion infrastructure package. The two sides agreed to meet in mid-May to discuss funding.
The White House declined to comment about the planned meeting.
Schumer said following last month’s negotiations that Democrats proposed the federal government would pay for 80 percent of a project while local governments would pick up 20 percent of the tab, while also including a public-private partnership element.
Trump did not accept that idea, but said he would consider his own funding routes, Schumer said. A source familiar with the matter noted that Trump expressed opposition during the meeting to public-private partnerships as part of an agreement.
Congressional Republicans have indicated they are unlikely to support an infrastructure package with such a hefty price tag, unless they can reach a deal on how to pay for it without adding to the deficit. If it passed the Democrat-held House, the legislation would likely face a difficult path in the GOP-controlled Senate without strong support from the White House.
Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has also cast doubt on the odds of a final deal, saying at the time of the first meeting that he would not be surprised if talks faltered over disagreements on regulations and timing.
News of the follow-up meeting comes amid mounting tensions between House Democrats and the White House over investigations into Trump, his policies and whether he obstructed justice. Skeptics have questioned whether the president is genuinely interested in bipartisanship, and whether Democrats should give Trump a win on infrastructure while he stonewalls their investigations and provokes calls for impeachment from some members.
Infrastructure has long been viewed as an area of potential bipartisan agreement during the increasingly partisan Trump era, even though divisions remain on how to pay for it.
Earlier this year, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters that the president brought up infrastructure and expressed surprise that lawmakers weren’t working on the issue. The remarks came amid an intense fight over Trump’s national emergency declaration over illegal immigration.
“He said he’s surprised. He thought it would be in everybody’s interest,” Graham told reporters, recalling his talk with Trump.
But Democrats also had low expectations going into the talks, noting they had previously gone to the White House for private meetings only for Trump to invite cameras into the room, making it harder to negotiate. A source familiar described the April talk as “uncharacteristically muted,” noting there was no press allowed into the room.
Some Democrats have argued that the House should press forward with the $2 trillion proposal regardless of buy-in from Republicans. The move would signal the party is willing to address key issues beyond investigations, and would put pressure on the Senate and White House to act, Democratic lawmakers asserted.
Updated at 2:52 p.m.