Trump's Infrastructure Plan Looks Dead on Arrival

"The Senate’s No. 2 Republican cast doubt on whether Congress will be able to enact President Donald Trump’s plan to upgrade U.S. public works this year, raising questions about whether a top administration priority will be done before the November elections," report Ari Nattler and Mark Niquette.

"Cornyn’s comments come two days before the first congressional hearing on Trump’s plan, when Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is set to testify before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee," add Nattler and Niquette.

The Trump Administration released the long-awaited infrastructure proposal earlier in February, prompting a swift and unequivocal backlash as well as support for various aspects of the proposal.

Jonathan Bernstein followed up on the news of Senator Cornyn's comments by casting doubt not on the effect of the senator's words, but the cause. "While it's true the Senate still needs to pass long-overdue spending bills in March, the agenda for the remainder of the year looks about as empty as possible," according to Bernstein. Do the political math, then, about GOP support for the Trump Infrastructure plan: "this is not a bill that they don't have time for. This is a bill that they don't want to take up, and they're making excuses for why they won't."

Bernstein speculates that congressional Republicans can't abide the Trump Plan not because it violates the Republican orthodoxy of small government, but because Trump's "clout with Congress -- a Republican Congress -- is so flimsy that they feel comfortable ignoring his main legislative initiative for 2018."