Fearing backroom deal-making, two nonprofits are suing White House aide Jared Kushner’s office for failure to honor Freedom of Information Act requests for details on infrastructure policy. President Donald Trump put Kushner in charge of the new Office of American Innovation that in planning for infrastructure legislation is prioritizing finding private investors over benefits to the public and country. (Newsweek, February 16, 2018, by Jessica Kwong)
One of the nonprofits, Food &Water Watch, is concerned that the Trump administration will ignore poorer communities in dire need for new water infrastructure, Flint, Michigan whose residents suffered from high levels of lead in their water and Martin County, Kentucky where because of coal mining and deteriorating infrastructure, the water contains heavy metals and carcinogens. (Food &Water Watch, February 19, 2018, by Caitlin Seeley George)