The libertarian political network funded by billionaire Charles Koch on Tuesday is not happy with the $2 trillion infrastructure price tag agreed upon by President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate.
In a statement first given to CNBC, Americans for Prosperity, one of the key groups in the influential Koch network, ripped the idea of spending that much on infrastructure and instead urged leaders to focus on cutting regulations.
"If Congress wants to find money to modernize our roads and bridges, we encourage them to look to their own pockets – Americans have been filling them up for years," Americans for Prosperity's head of government affairs Brent Gardner said. "Instead of proposing a $2 trillion catch-all 'infrastructure' bill and asking hard-working Americans to fund it by paying more at the pump, Washington lawmakers should cut the red tape and stop wasting the tax dollars we give them."
The group has also previously argued against using a gas tax to pay for infrastructure repairs and enhancements.
The statement from the Koch network is an indication that Trump and congressional Democrats will likely run into resistance if they proceed toward a $2 trillion proposal, particularly from Republican critics of taxing and spending. The network typically supports GOP candidates and initiatives. It supported Trump's 2017 tax cuts, the president's signature legislative achievement.
The group has backed some bipartisan proposals, as well, such as the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill. The White House also supported the measure, and Trump signed it into law.
Schumer announced Tuesday, after a meeting at the White House, that he, Pelosi and Trump, along with other top Democrats, agreed on the $2 trillion price tag – although the sides had yet to agree on details.
"We agreed on a number, which was very, very good," Schumer said.
The White House praised the meeting as "excellent and productive."
"We have to invest in this country's future and bring our infrastructure to a level better than it has ever been before. We will have another meeting in three weeks to discuss specific proposals and financing methods," the White House said.
Trump made infrastructure one of his key pitches to voters in the 2016 election and has attempted to change the subject to repairing the nation's bridges and roads several times in his tenure in the White House. No agreements have materialized, and the president's own infrastructure proposal failed to catch on.
However, Trump and Pelosi have often mentioned infrastructure as an area of potential common ground between the White House and his Democratic adversaries. With Democrats in control of the House, there are faint hopes of a potential bipartisan deal as both sides look for an advantage with the 2020 election on the horizon.
