Pelosi-Schumer-Trump Infrastructure Plan Already Meeting Resistance

Introduced on April 30, the $2 trillion conceptual plan is likely to be dismissed by Congressional Republicans wary of increasing taxes and adding to the deficit, according to an extensive article by The Hill published three days later.

3 minute read

May 8, 2019, 1:00 PM PDT

By Irvin Dawid


Congressional Democrats

Michael Candelori / Shutterstock

When Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) emerged from a White House meeting on April 30, they announced that they had reached an agreement with President Trump to proceed with a $2 trillion infrastructure plan. Conspicuously absent were any Republicans, not even members of the administration who had participated in the meeting, which should have been a clue to the challenges that await such an ambitious proposal.

"The next date to watch as this infrastructure plan develops is three weeks from now, when the trio will meet again, and President Trump is 'expected to tell them how he planned to actually pay for the ambitious project,'" wrote Planetizen editor James Brasuell on April 30. 

Whatever shape the payment plan takes, it will have to pass the GOP-controlled Senate, but according to Hill reporters Alexander BoltonJuliegrace Brufke, and Scott Wong, that is unlikely to happen for the same reasons that Trump's own plan met resistance from Congressional Republican leaders.

Federal gas tax and Highway Trust Fund reauthorization

"GOP lawmakers say the president’s grand proposal for a $2 trillion deal is too ambitious and warn that they will oppose any measure that adds to the deficit," they write.

Many Republicans also say they are against raising taxes to pay for an infrastructure initiative, a stance that would make it extremely difficult to find money to finance a package even half the size of Trump’s desired amount.

“I think $2 trillion is really ambitious. If you do a 35-cent increase in the gas tax, for example, indexed for inflation, it gets you only half a trillion [dollars],” said Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate GOP leader.

Unlike most of the 10 other Republican congress members quoted in the article, at least Thune did not rule out increasing the gas tax. The president is on record as supporting hiking the federal gas tax, stuck at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993, by a quarter per gallon.

“The other problem that’s going to come up is we’re bumping up against highway reauthorization,” said Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.). “That’s going to take a lot of dollars. The Highway Trust Fund is depleted … it’s going to be very difficult to fund that.”

Boozman raises a good point. Congress passed the current five-year reauthorization, known as the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, in December 2015, so it expires in on Dec. 31, 2020. Keeping the Highway Trust Fund solvent should provide better bipartisan motivation for hiking the fuel tax. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how Speaker Pelosi champions the infrastructure plan, should one emerge with the White House, though the House.

Related in Planetizen:

Friday, May 3, 2019 in The Hill

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight