White House Infrastructure Adviser DJ Gribbin Steps Down
David J. “DJ” Gribbin, the key architect of President Donald Trump’s $1.5 trillion infrastructure proposal, is leaving the White House to “pursue new opportunities,” a White House official told Transport Topics on April 3.
Having wrapped up the president’s infrastructure proposal, which was unveiled Feb. 12, was a reason for Gribbin’s departure, a White House official said. Gribbin, whose title was special assistant to the president for infrastructure, joined the White House’s National Economic Council, more than a year ago. His primary task was to formulate the president’s infrastructure vision.
Statements from National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow, as well as the council’s former director, Gary Cohn, in reference to Gribbin, were provided by a White House official.
“His expertise has added tremendous value to the administration. We thank him for his hard work and dedication, and wish him well on his future endeavors. The NEC will continue to push the president’s infrastructure initiative as part of his pro-growth economic agenda,” Kudlow said.
Trump describes the regulatory process chart to build a highway during a town hall with business leaders at the White House as infrastructure adviser DJ Gribbin (left) listens. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)
“I am grateful for his service and fully believe that the plan President Trump delivered to Congress, combined with the work we are doing administratively, will have a transformational impact on our economy,” added Cohn, who is an assistant to the president and plans to leave the White House.
During a tenure that began February 2017, Gribbin promoted calls to streamline the permitting process for construction projects and staunchly defended Trump’s push to rely significantly on private sector players for infrastructure projects. He also often praised the president’s record as a real estate mogul.
“We have a president who is a builder, who actually has been responsible for building very significant projects,” Gribbin told an audience at the Hudson Institute in Washington on Dec. 12.
Prior to joining the White House, Gribbin was a managing director at Macquarie Capital. He had been general counsel at the U.S. Department of Transportation during President George W. Bush’s administration. Gribbin did not return requests seeking comment.
Trump’s infrastructure proposal, which would entail using $200 billion in federal funds to incentivize $1.3 trillion in nonfederal investments, has yet to be legislated on Capitol Hill. Last week, Trump was in Ohio to promote his infrastructure proposal. The president indicated it would be more likely for Congress to take up the proposal after the November midterm elections in separate, smaller bills. At that event, Trump also expounded on North Korea, Syria, Hillary Clinton, congressional Democrats and comedian Roseanne Barr.
