Good post, but I disagree with your last point here.
Kushner and Meadows had nothing to do with this. What you describe here can be attributed entirely to the Republicans who controlled Congress in 2017-18.
Yes Paul Ryan was a big part of it. But Kushner loved Ryan. And Kushner and Meadows kept steering Trump away from infrastructure after Ryan was gone. That was a huge mistake. People need help with their roads and bridges and got none from the GOP.
The GOPe was a big block against payments to people harmed by the lockdowns though. I definitely agree there. Trump had the right instinct.