Biden's team says progress on big public works projects may hinge on the outcome of the 2024 vote
The Biden administration says it's started 40,000 construction projects since the passage of major infrastructure legislation two years ago
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has started 40,000 construction projects since the passage of major infrastructure legislation two years ago and is seeking to make the case that continued progress could depend on keeping Joe Biden in the White House after 2024.
Biden has long emphasized the bipartisan appeal of the $1 trillion investment, with governors, mayors and county officials. His administration says getting that money out the door has required the hiring of 6,100 federal officials and meant a new degree of cooperation across governments that the outcome of next year's presidential election could put at risk.
White House infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu said the occupant of the Oval Office increasingly matters. Some leading Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, opposed the law or now want to cut money for infrastructure services.
“This whole thing could get thrown out of the window if somebody else was sitting over there and decides, ‘We don’t want to do it,'" Landrieu said in an interview.
Projects being planned or already underway affect 4,500-plus communities in every state and the nation's capital. That includes bringing access to free or discounted high-speech internet service to more than 21 million low-income households, making improvements to 135,800 miles of roads, repairing 7,800 bridges and providing nearly 3,000 low and zero-emission buses.
There are almost 450 port and waterway projects and 190 to improve airport terminals.
In the interview and during a subsequent briefing Thursday with reporters, Landrieu said officials hope to
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