In the News

A group of House Republicans, led by Virginia Rep. Ben Cline, sent a letter Tuesday to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Acting Administrator Stephanie Pollack calling for answers about projects to expand highway capacity.

In the letter, first obtained by the Daily Caller, the lawmakers are requesting a comprehensive breakdown of funding awards related to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which President Joe Biden signed in Nov. 2021. Republicans have continued to raise concerns that this new law reserves taxpayer funds for Green New Deal projects instead of actual infrastructure.

The Federal Highway Administration issued guidelines on Dec. 16, 2021, suggesting that the Biden administration intends to cut funding for traditional infrastructure. The guidance stated that the FHWA “where permitted by law, [will] require … recipients of Federal highway funding to select projects that improve the condition and safety of existing transportation infrastructure within the right-of-way before advancing projects that add new general purpose travel lanes serving single occupancy vehicles.”

The Republicans who signed the letter expressed concern that the directive to improve existing infrastructure before expanding highways will be used to justify green boondoggles.

Read more here.