Biden seeks to ease tensions with Democrats on spending, infrastructure bills

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers met Wednesday in an effort to iron out disagreements and finish a lengthy to-do list of major pieces of spending legislation in less than a week.

Biden hosted multiple in-person meetings at the White House with groups representing different wings of the Democratic caucus from both the House and the Senate to build consensus around his infrastructure and social spending packages.

Some of the meetings, which began Wednesday afternoon, include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, leader of the progressive caucus Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders.

“We made some good progress," Schumer told reporters, following the meeting with Biden and Pelosi.

"We’re working hard and we’re moving along," he added.

Separately, Pelosi told reporters, that the reconciliation bill is still on schedule, after promising centrist lawmakers that it will come up for a vote in the House by Monday.

"We're calm and everybody's good and our works almost done," said Pelosi.

The meetings are an effort to break the current stalemate among House Democrats, which threatens to derail Biden’s domestic agenda. Progressive lawmakers have said they won’t back the Senate-passed infrastructure bill, a top priority for the Democratic leadership, unless the larger $3.5 trillion reconciliation package passes first.

Jayapal has promised that dozens of Democrats will defect and vote the infrastructure bill down if the larger spending bill hasn't passed the Senate first.

Moderate Democrat Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., said a vote on Monday on the infrastructure measure is still expected, following a meeting with Biden and other moderate lawmakers.

"I didn't hear anything that indicated otherwise," said Murphy on a call with reporters.

"I won't speak for the president, but I will say that I think there is a common sense that we want to be able to pass an infrastructure bill as well as a reconciliation," she said.

On Wednesday, 11 Democratic senators came out in support of the House Progressive Caucus' plan, including Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Ed Markey, D-Mass., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Tina Smith, D-Minn., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.

“We strongly support the Congressional Progressive Caucus and other members in the House who have said they intend to vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill only once the Build Back Better Act is passed," according to a statement from the senators.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters earlier on Wednesday that Biden was looking forward to the meetings.

"At this point, I will tell you this is probably not going to be his last engagement with a single member of Congress in these important days forward," said Psaki.

Separately, on Tuesday night, the House passed legislation that would fund the government through Dec. 3 and extend the debt limit until after the 2022 elections.

The party-line vote was 220-211, with no Republicans joining the Democrats in supporting the bill.

The broad GOP opposition foreshadows trouble in the Senate, where at least 10 Republicans are needed to defeat a filibuster. House Republican leaders pressured their members to oppose the bill.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has also vowed that Republicans won't supply the votes to extend the debt ceiling, arguing that Democrats should do it on a partisan basis.