“There’s no doubt there’s a pathway forward on this,” Marc Short, the White House director of legislative affairs, said on Fox News last week. “I’m very confident. We’ve had conversations with Democrats. I think there’s a willingness on the policy to get there. The question remains will politics prevent it.”

Short said President Donald Trump has invited Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) to Camp David, a presidential retreat in Maryland, the first weekend in January “to make sure we’re all on the same page about where our priorities are for 2018.”

Trump has been touting an overhaul of the nation’s infrastructure since his campaign began, and the administration considers it one of its top objectives. The White House is readying a $1tr plan that includes direct federal spending of around $200bn, funds they say that would be offset by cuts elsewhere in the federal budget. The rest of the spending would come from cities, states and private investment.

Many congressional Democrats agree with Trump’s view that the state of America’s infrastructure is a drag on the economy and in need of an overhaul. But they say the $1tr investment should come largely from the federal government.

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