WASHINGTON—The White House this week will try to mobilize support for a large-scale package to fund highway and bridge construction and other infrastructure programs, but prospects in Congress are dim as lawmakers push for a temporary measure to avoid a funding lapse.

The politics tied to government spending on roads and bridges has become more complicated in recent weeks, with groups of Democrats and Republicans supporting different approaches to keep highway programs funded into early next year.

President Barack Obama and senior advisers will spend this week trying to bolster support for highway projects. The push will include a new executive action on Thursday that the White House said would increase private-sector spending on infrastructure projects, though officials didn't provide more details.

On Monday, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will go to West Virginia to press for more spending on highway projects and White House officials also will release a report that will argue how infrastructure spending helps spur long-term economic growth.

On Tuesday, Mr. Obama is slated to visit Virginia to offer remarks on the importance of infrastructure spending, and the following day he will meet with senior advisers and discuss both infrastructure projects and climate change, the White House said.