Memo to Mo: Cash the check. Right away.

Because it will most likely be a long time before you see another one.

This is in reference to the $372 million Christmas appropriation the U.S. Department of Transportation gifted Gov. Maura Healey last week.

The money is slated for beginning work on replacing the two aging Cape Cod bridges, first the Sagamore and then the Bourne.

Both 88-year-old bridges were built and are operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

And while they are considered functionally obsolete, the federal government, perhaps with the financial disaster of the Big Dig still in mind, has balked at coming up with money for Massachusetts to build two new bridges.

Or it could be that the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, all Democrats, simply lacks the clout to bring home the money?

The replacement bridges, if they are ever built, will be turned over to the state.

And while Healey called the appropriation a “huge win,” the amount is a pittance compared to the $4.5 billion it will cost to replace the two bridges.

Nevertheless, Healey said, “Our administration said from day one that we were going to compete aggressively for federal funding to bring home to support crucial infrastructure projects in Massachusetts like the Cape Cod bridges project.”

Sen, Elizabeth Warren called the appropriation a “breakthrough” and Sen. Eddie Markey said the Biden administration “believes that is a very important project.”

If so, why hasn’t Biden, who is sending billions to Ukraine and Israel, come up with at least half the cost of replacing the bridges?

They were built and owned by the federal government. Why isn’t the federal government responsible for paying for the replacements instead of leaving it to the state?

If the federal JFK building in Government Center collapsed, would it be up to the state to pay for its replacement?

As far as the bridges are concerned, getting federal money for their replacement has been like pulling teeth.

Perhaps it is because the federal government was so badly burned over the astonishing amount of federal dollars it poured into the Big Dig, which was the most expensive highway project in the country. Initial estimates for the project were $2.8 million. It ended up costing $22 billion.

There is another factor involved, and that is one of personal relationships. While not all politics is personal, much of it is.

While Mo Healey is on good terms with fellow Democrat Joe Biden—even though he has shortchanged the state on bridge and immigration money — Biden may not be around much longer.

And his successor just might be Republican Donald Trump, the man Healey, as attorney general, sued some 96 times over issues ranging from immigration and his travel ban on Muslim countries to the environment during his presidency. She claimed to have won most of the suits.

She sued Trump as he stumbled into the White House, as he staggered out the door, and regularly in between, often insulting him in the process.

Thirteen of those lawsuits dealt with immigration and the southern border during a period when Trump sought to build a wall and secure the border. She called Trump’s border policy of separating families “inhumane and immoral,” as well as illegal.

Healey also joined fellow Democratic attorneys general and sued Trump over his proposed rule to deny entry into the U.S. and a path to citizenship to immigrants who access government funded health, nutrition and housing assistance.

These free assistance programs are the very programs that have led to the millions of immigrants from around the world to flood the country, often overwhelming social services.

Upon filing the suit in 2019 Healey said the proposed rule was “designed to scare immigrants in Massachusetts and prevent people from accessing basic services for which they are eligible that keep our communities healthy and safe.”

Trump was defeated, the Democrats won, and the immigrants came.

But Trump just might be back in the White House. And he does not forgive or forget. So, Mo would be wise to cash the check now, because it might be the last one she gets.

Peter Lucas is a veteran Massachusetts political reporter and columnist.