White House kills Trump's infrastructure council
The same week President Trump's two business advisory councils disbanded and his remarks intended to kick off infrastructure reform turned into a series of controversial statements about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, the president's plan for an infrastructure council is dead before it began.
"The president has announced the end of the Manufacturing Council and the Strategy and Policy Forum," a White House official tells CBS News White House and senior foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan. "In addition, the president's Advisory Council on Infrastructure, which was still being formed, will not move forward."
The change in plans comes after Mr. Trump and his cabinet members laid out their plan for infrastructure reform, which cuts back on the approval process so the federal government and companies can move forward with projects more quickly. Mr. Trump signed an executive order to that effect on Tuesday at Trump Tower in New York City.
But infrastructure reform was drowned out by comments Mr. Trump made to reporters after announcing those plans. Mr. Trump said there were "very fine people" among the white supremacist protesters in Charlottesville, and "both sides" were responsible for the violence, sparking intense criticism even from top members of his own party.
In the wake of those comments, multiple members of the president's business advisory councils made their exit, and the president agreed to disband those councils entirely.
