Watchdog Slams Trump Administration for $1 Trillion Infrastructure Proposal

For Immediate Release
June 16, 2020
Contact: Grace Morgan
(202-855-4380)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) criticized the Trump administration for preparing to propose a $1 trillion infrastructure plan. Business Insider reports, “Under the plan, most of the money will be earmarked for infrastructure work in roads and bridges meanwhile the rest of the funds will be devoted to building the US 5G network and improving internet services in rural areas of the country.” The 2020 deficit has already exceeded $3 trillion (roughly $23,000 per household), driven by record spending to contain COVID-19.

TPA President David Williams slammed the forthcoming proposal, noting, “once again, struggling families and taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill for pet projects and potentially wasteful spending. Even without an infrastructure bill, the deficit this year is quickly approaching $4 trillion, and future taxpayers are already on the line for tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of interest payments for this record spending binge. Now is the worst possible time to add another trillion dollars onto the maxed-out federal credit card. Any future spending this year should go toward helping struggling families, businesses, and healthcare providers cope with the Coronavirus, not bolstering the bottom-lines of politically-connected contractors.”

Williams continued: “According to preliminary reports, the Trump administration’s infrastructure proposal will include significant spending on 5G and internet connectivity. But the evidence is clear: regulatory reform and spectrum clearing, not taxpayer dollars, are needed to close the digital divide. Under the leadership of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai, America is making a sustained, successful effort to decrease 5G deployment costs and streamline rules across the country to close the digital divide while protecting taxpayers. The agency has committed to spectrum clearing in record time, resolving to begin publicly auctioning off C-band spectrum by the end of the year which will bring in tens of billions of dollars to the U.S. Treasury. Chairman Pai will outline this process today before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government and explain how taxpayers and consumers stand to benefit from this auction process. But this progress will be undone by a $1 trillion infrastructure boondoggle that will break the bank without hastening 5G deployment.”

Williams concluded: “There’s no doubt that America’s infrastructure is in bad shape, and repairs across the country are sorely needed. To fix this, lawmakers and the Trump administration should continue streamlining regulatory approval processes and seek private dollars to invest in roads and bridges. A poorly targeted $1 trillion bill could result in thousands of earmarks instead of real infrastructure projects and sink American households further into debt, while setting back internet connectivity. The last thing that struggling families and businesses need right now is another trillion-dollar boondoggle.”

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