The Gateway Project Doesn't Need Trump's Approval

Holding up the spending bill in Congress this week: a fight over a tunnel beneath the Hudson River.

President Donald Trump has said that he will veto the omnibus spending bill that lawmakers in Congress are now finalizing if it includes funding for the Gateway project, a massive replacement rail tunnel system connecting connecting Manhattan with New Jersey. According to Bloomberg, the compromise bill sets aside up to $541 million in a year’s worth of appropriations for rail tunnel and bridge projects, less than two-thirds of the $900 million Gateway backers were seeking this year. The president’s objection can be chalked up to his feud with Congressional Democrats in general and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer in particular, for whom the project is an enormous priority. There’s a reason why Gateway gets billed as “the most urgent infrastructure project in America.”