In the News

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, the chair of the chief tax writing committee in the House, met with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last week following the final passage of US-Canada-Mexico trade deal to discuss moving forward with a infrastructure bill, and continues to believe it might be possible to work with the White House on highway funding.

Neal, who was at the State House Tuesday night for Gov. Charlie Baker's State of the Commonwealth address, said he plans to meet with Mnuchin again next week when he returns to Washington, which is currently in the throes of an impeachment trial in the Senate.

"We need to agree on some numbers and proceed on the basis that the country badly needs it and I think that it is doable," Neal said after Baker's speech.

The chair of the House Ways and Means Committee and Mnuchin agreed to revisit the idea of infrastructure funding bill after the USMCA trade deal reached President Trump's desk. The president is expected to sign the deal this week.

"I think big things can get done in election years," Neal said. "This is one of those issues that's interesting because the president needs it and we want it."

Neal said that the bipartisan vote in both the House and Senate for the trade deal shows that Congress can get something done, even in an election year while impeachment is ongoing.

As for the trial of the president in the Senate, Neal said he "never thought you were going to move many Republicans on the impeachment issue," but believes there should be a "full airing" of the issues involving Ukraine.

"I think there ought to be witnessed and I think there ought to be a factual analysis of precisely what happened. I think the submission of documents is terribly important. Let's be candid. People fib. Documents don't," Neal said.