'Asset recycling' is 1 piece of the bipartisan infrastructure deal that could prove controversial

The bipartisan infrastructure proposal revealed Thursday has a long list of pay-fors. Among them is something called "asset recycling," or, as it might otherwise be known, "a fancy way of turning public infrastructure into private infrastructure."
But how exactly? And how might such an operation help the government fund a $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal? Per research and policy organization In The Public Interest, asset recycling sells off public goods like "roads, water systems, and electric utilities" with the intent of using lease money to fund new infrastructure. Proponents say asset recycling "builds upon itself."
Critics, however, are far less convinced. In practice, they argue, asset recycling would "fleece the country's public works, the common institutions we all paid to build, and allow private companies to control them," writes The American Prospect. As HuffPost's Kevin Robillard notes, we can take Australia, the birthplace of asset recycling, as an example. Officials ended the practice after just two years, saying they were "concerned" the initiative encouraged privatization "without appropriate consideration or analysis of future costs," per ITPI. A similar venture in Chicago wherein the city sold 36,000 parking meters to Wall Street investors has continued to prove itself a headache for officials and taxpayers alike, reports the Prospect.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Although Democrats condemned the practice when it was favored by the Trump administration, they appear to be "mostly silent" in their criticism now, the Prospect notes. However, as Robillard points out, it might be just the progressives who stick up their nose this time around.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Educating Yorkshire: a 'quietly groundbreaking' documentary
The Week Recommends The 'uplifting' return to Thornhill Community Academy is a 'tonic' for tough times
-
Quit-smoking ads are being put out
Under the radar The dissolution of a government-funded campaign could lead to more smokers in the future
-
Crossword: September 3, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
-
Trump crypto token launch earns family billions
Speed Read The World Liberty Financial token is now the Trump family's 'most valuable asset'
-
RFK Jr. names new CDC head as staff revolt
Speed Read Kennedy installed his deputy, Jim O'Neill, as acting CDC director
-
DC prosecutors lose bid to indict sandwich thrower
Speed Read Prosecutors sought to charge Sean Dunn with assaulting a federal officer
-
White House fires new CDC head amid agency exodus
Speed Read CDC Director Susan Monarez was ousted after butting heads with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccines
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official says
Speed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judges
Speed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policing
Speed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Speed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates