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Last week, I sat down with Landrieu to discuss what has been accomplished. The following has been edited for clarity and brevity:
Capehart: How did your experience as a local and state official inform how you went about your work implementing the law?
Landrieu: As mayor and as lieutenant governor dealing with the federal government, you came up here to try to get stuff if you could. And then if they had stuff, it was hard to find. And if you found it, it was hard to get. And if you got it, they tried to claw it back.
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This president said, “Look, I really think it’s important that we figure out how to make government work better. And so I need an implementation strategy.” So he called me to come up. The better idea for the country was we were going to spend time trying to get the money out the door, down on the ground and actually have something coming out of the ground. In two short years, we have more than 40,000 projects that are funded in the country in 4,500 communities in all 50 states, the territories and Washington, D.C. That’s incredible.
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Capehart: You did have the situation where you had Republican members of Congress who voted against the bill and then showed up for the groundbreaking, the ribbon cutting.
Landrieu: Nancy Pelosi, the speaker emerita, had the best statement about that: “Even those folks that voted no want the dough.” But the worst part is some of them will actually come back to Washington and vote to repeal it after having taken credit. That’s a level of chutzpah that we haven’t seen in a very, very long time. ...
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We have gotten out of the habit of having the federal, state and local governments working in coordination with each other well, and as a consequence, we’ve stopped learning how, in partnership with the private sector and labor, to build big things. We’re starting to do that again. We’ve been intentional about breaking down the stovepipes between and amongst all the [Cabinet departments], so that coming up here is like a one-stop shop. ...
Putting aside the roads, the bridges, the airports, the ports, which I call “the what,” this is what I call “the way”: communication, collaboration, coordination — every day, all day, rinse, repeat, do it over again, get better at it, get faster at it, get more thoughtful, learn how to make decisions better. All of a sudden, you can build a lot of big stuff.
Capehart: Talk more specifically about the Brent Spence Bridge. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear noted in his reelection victory speech that it’s toll-free. What’s so significant about that?
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Landrieu: It’s without tolls because Biden put up $1.7 billion for that bridge that connects two red states, Ohio and Kentucky. The president did that because he believes everybody in America ought to benefit from it. He did not say, “I’m sorry, those states don’t vote for me. I’m not giving them money.” [He’s] a guy with big shoulders who says, “I’m for everybody whether you vote for me or not.”
Capehart: Why, then, doesn’t the president get credit for what he’s done?
Landrieu: He’s smart. He’s tough. He’s also very kind. And sometimes people mistake that for weakness. ... This guy is not retributive. He’s like, “You can criticize me. You can take credit for my work.” As long as he gets elected and helps the people, that’s okay.
Capehart: Why do you think people underestimate him? Why are so many within his own party itching for him to not run for reelection?
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Landrieu: [They’ve] done it his whole life. He’s always exceeded their expectations, and he’s never quit. That’s the one thing they don’t understand about Joe Biden. His wife was killed, and he still came to work. His son was an addict, and he still came to work. His son died from cancer, he still got up, and he came to work. So what would make anybody think that at this point in life, after making that incredible sacrifice and being the most powerful person in the world, he’s going to walk away from actually performing better than most people who have ever performed in this office? Why would anybody expect him or want him to do that?
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Two years ago this week, President Biden signed the bipartisan infrastructure bill into law. The day before, on Nov. 14, 2021, he named former Louisiana lieutenant governor and New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu as his senior adviser responsible for overseeing the historic $1.2 trillion law’s implementation.
Last week, I sat down with Landrieu to discuss what has been accomplished. The following has been edited for clarity and brevity:
Capehart: How did your experience as a local and state official inform how you went about your work implementing the law?
Landrieu: As mayor and as lieutenant governor dealing with the federal government, you came up here to try to get stuff if you could. And then if they had stuff, it was hard to find. And if you found it, it was hard to get. And if you got it, they tried to claw it back.
This president said, “Look, I really think it’s important that we figure out how to make government work better. And so I need an implementation strategy.” So he called me to come up. The better idea for the country was we were going to spend time trying to get the money out the door, down on the ground and actually have something coming out of the ground. In two short years, we have more than 40,000 projects that are funded in the country in 4,500 communities in all 50 states, the territories and Washington, D.C. That’s incredible.
Capehart: You did have the situation where you had Republican members of Congress who voted against the bill and then showed up for the groundbreaking, the ribbon cutting.
Landrieu: Nancy Pelosi, the speaker emerita, had the best statement about that: “Even those folks that voted no want the dough.” But the worst part is some of them will actually come back to Washington and vote to repeal it after having taken credit. That’s a level of chutzpah that we haven’t seen in a very, very long time. ...
We have gotten out of the habit of having the federal, state and local governments working in coordination with each other well, and as a consequence, we’ve stopped learning how, in partnership with the private sector and labor, to build big things. We’re starting to do that again. We’ve been intentional about breaking down the stovepipes between and amongst all the [Cabinet departments], so that coming up here is like a one-stop shop. ...
Putting aside the roads, the bridges, the airports, the ports, which I call “the what,” this is what I call “the way”: communication, collaboration, coordination — every day, all day, rinse, repeat, do it over again, get better at it, get faster at it, get more thoughtful, learn how to make decisions better. All of a sudden, you can build a lot of big stuff.
Capehart: Talk more specifically about the Brent Spence Bridge. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear noted in his reelection victory speech that it’s toll-free. What’s so significant about that?
Landrieu: It’s without tolls because Biden put up $1.7 billion for that bridge that connects two red states, Ohio and Kentucky. The president did that because he believes everybody in America ought to benefit from it. He did not say, “I’m sorry, those states don’t vote for me. I’m not giving them money.” [He’s] a guy with big shoulders who says, “I’m for everybody whether you vote for me or not.”
Capehart: Why, then, doesn’t the president get credit for what he’s done?
Landrieu: He’s smart. He’s tough. He’s also very kind. And sometimes people mistake that for weakness. ... This guy is not retributive. He’s like, “You can criticize me. You can take credit for my work.” As long as he gets elected and helps the people, that’s okay.
Capehart: Why do you think people underestimate him? Why are so many within his own party itching for him to not run for reelection?
Landrieu: [They’ve] done it his whole life. He’s always exceeded their expectations, and he’s never quit. That’s the one thing they don’t understand about Joe Biden. His wife was killed, and he still came to work. His son was an addict, and he still came to work. His son died from cancer, he still got up, and he came to work. So what would make anybody think that at this point in life, after making that incredible sacrifice and being the most powerful person in the world, he’s going to walk away from actually performing better than most people who have ever performed in this office? Why would anybody expect him or want him to do that?
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