Sen. Menendez Blasts ‘Flip-Flopping’ FTA Nominee Over Gateway

Is the Gateway Project “nationally important?” That’s the question that U.S. Senator Robert Menendez posed to Federal Transit Administration (FTA) nominee Thelma Drake during a confirmation hearing before the federal Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

Drake’s “flip-flopping” reply didn’t sit well with the senior senator from New Jersey, his office reported.

During the hearing, Menendez quizzed Drake about the Gateway Project, a massive, proposed public works effort that would tackle a notorious bottleneck on the Northeast Corridor, the most heavily used passenger rail line in the nation. (Watch the video below)

The project includes two major components: a plan to replace the 106-year-old Portal Bridge, and the construction of a new two-track Hudson River rail tunnel from New Jersey to Manhattan.

On Tuesday, Menendez asked Drake, a former Republican congresswoman from Virginia, if Gateway is a “project of national significance,” a viewpoint that he alleged she agreed with during a private meeting prior to the hearing.

“In my office, you told me that, ‘Yes, this was a nationally important project,’ so something has happened between your honest—I assume your honest answer to me in my office and the answer I’m getting now,” Menendez said. “So evidently, you’ve been instructed to say something different.”

“I consider this a very significant project,” Drake replied.

“That’s not the same as saying that it’s a nationally important project, which is what you said in my office,” Menendez insisted.

The debate about whether Gateway is of national significance – or is just a local boon at the cost of federal tax dollars – has been at the core of the debate over how to fund the project.

New Jersey and New York state officials have maintained that in 2015, the Obama-era Department of Transportation - which oversees the FTA - gave a thumbs-up regarding a proposed funding arrangement for the plan to governor Andrew Cuomo and former governor Chris Christie, now-Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker.

As part of that alleged agreement, New Jersey and New York pledged to pay for half of the cost, with the federal government matching the other half, partly through loans, state officials said.

However, in December, FTA officials stated in a letter to Cuomo and Christie that their plan to split the cost of the project was just a pipe dream.

"There is no such agreement," wrote FTA Deputy Administrator K. Jane Williams. "We consider it unhelpful to reference a non-existent 'agreement' rather than directly address the responsibility for funding a local project where nine out of 10 passengers are local transit riders."

• See related article: $13B Gateway Tunnel In Jeopardy; Feds Trash Obama-Era Deal

During Tuesday’s hearing, Menendez asked Drake what the appropriate balance of federal and local funding for projects such as Gateway should be.

Drake said that she thought there should be a “balance,” but declined to elaborate further. She told Menendez that she’d be “happy to get back to him” with more specifics, a reply that didn’t sit well with the veteran Democrat. (Watch the video below)

• See related article: Trump Wants To Squash Gateway Tunnel, High-Ranking Official Says
• See related article: Gov. Murphy Says Gateway Program Could Fix Portal Bridge Breakdowns
• See related article: Rep. Frelinghuysen Blasts Feds, Says Gateway Tunnel Is Imperative

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