SOTU predictions

McConnell, Schumer's op-eds push dueling SOTU predictions

By LOUIS NELSON

Both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote in op-eds published Monday that they hope President Donald Trump will call for a bipartisan infrastructure bill when he delivers his State of the Union Tuesday night.

But aside from a desire to see such an infrastructure package, the two men offered sharply differing predictions for Trump’s first State of the Union address. McConnell, published in The Louisville Courier-Journal, touted a list of accomplishments claimed by the White House while Schumer, whose op-ed ran in The Washington Post, offered a chilly prediction for what the president’s infrastructure proposal might be.

“On this issue, Democrats agree with the president: America’s physical infrastructure is the backbone of our economy, and we have fallen behind,” Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote. But the minority leader lamented that what the White House has revealed thus far from the president’s infrastructure proposal would be relatively light on federal funding, relying instead on private capital and money from state and local governments. Such a plan, Schumer said, would leave out rural areas unable to afford such investments and place the funding onus on middle-class Americans from whom private companies would recoup their investments via tolls and fees.

“Democrats will watch the State of the Union hoping that President Trump will change course — by emphasizing the need for a major, direct federal investment in infrastructure,” Schumer wrote. “The president faces a choice: The hard right doesn’t want him to expend federal resources, but to effectively rebuild our nation’s infrastructure, he must.”

Addressing infrastructure in his own op-ed, McConnell seemed more bullish on the possibility of a bipartisan infrastructure deal. “Our network of roads, bridges, airports and waterways is critical to nearly every segment of our economy,” he wrote. “Working with the administration, we can develop a bipartisan plan to help businesses get their products to consumers and help all of us travel more safely and efficiently.”

Like Schumer, McConnell (R-Ky.) lobbed criticism at the fringe of the opposing party, suggesting that “liberal Washington Democrats have obstructed the president’s agenda at every turn to satisfy the far-left.” Nonetheless, the majority leader celebrated Trump’s successes thus far, including last year’s tax cut legislation, a wave of conservative judicial nominees and a campaign to loosen government regulations.

“During the State of the Union, President Trump can herald the many accomplishments of his first year in office and lay out his vision for the second,” McConnell wrote. “As he discusses the strong state of our union, I will be proud to stand up and applaud.”