WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden pledged Friday to "get it done" as Democrats strained to rescue a scaled-back version of his $3.5 trillion government-overhaul plan and salvage a related public-works bill after days of negotiations resulted in no deal.
Biden huddled with House Democrats in a private meeting that was part instructional, part morale booster for the caucus of lawmakers, telling them he wanted both bills passed regardless of the time it takes. He discussed a compromise top line of $1.9 trillion to more than $2 trillion, according to lawmakers in the room.
But as night fell, no deal was at hand.
Biden's visit to Capitol Hill was largely a bid to mediate the impasse that has stalled a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which progressives refuse to support until they see action on the remainder of Biden's agenda in a major budget bill to expand health care, education, climate-change initiatives and paid leave.
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"I'm telling you, we're going to get this done," Biden said at the Capitol after meeting with Democrats. He added: "It doesn't matter when. It doesn't matter whether it's in six minutes, six days or six weeks. We're going to get it done."
Holdout Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., sunk hopes for a swift compromise when he refused to budge late Thursday on his demands for a smaller overall package, around $1.5 trillion, despite hours of shuttle diplomacy with White House aides.
With Republicans solidly opposed to Biden's vision, the president and his party are reaching for a legislative accomplishment on their own -- all to be paid for by rewriting federal balance sheets with tax increases on corporations and people earning more than $400,000 a year.
As action ground to a halt Friday, Biden appeared to offer no particular new legislative strategy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had insisted there would be a vote Friday on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that is popular but is snared in the debate over Biden's broader measure.
With Democratic progressives refusing to give their support for that slimmer roads-and-bridges bill unless advances are made on the bigger bill, Pelosi with a slim House majority appeared unwilling to risk failure by calling for a vote.
Biden, by insisting that both bills pass, appeared to give a nod to the progressives' strategy, while floating the lower numbers acknowledged the compromise with centrists to come.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said: "He was really clear that we need to get both bills done."
Biden emphasized that he supported the bipartisan infrastructure bill, according to Jayapal, and said, "If I thought I could do it right now, I would, but we need to get this reconciliation bill.
"It's going to be tough," Jayapal added. "Like we're going to have to come down in our number and we're going to have to do that work and see what we can get to."
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Attention returned to Manchin and to some extent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., two centrists who helped steer the $1 trillion public-works bill to Senate passage but have concerns that Biden's larger bill is too big.
After hours of negotiations that stretched near midnight Thursday, Manchin said he could not compromise beyond his $1.5 trillion offer.
On Friday, Biden acknowledged the reality that Democrats are likely going to need to whittle down some of their spending ambitions to win the fuller backing of Manchin, Sinema and other moderates in their party. The president told lawmakers at one point during the discussion, in the recollection of a source in the room, "Even a smaller bill can make historic investments."
Biden relayed to lawmakers a story that seemed to mark the moment.
The president told them that when his White House office was renovated, it was hung with pictures of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt, presidents who led a "deeply divided country and the biggest economic transformation -- and that's just the kind of moment we're in," said Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I.
The White House said the president plans to travel next week to make his case that his measures would help the American people.
Biden's bigger proposal is a years-in-the-making collection of Democratic priorities with an ultimate price tag he says is zero, because the tax revenue would cover the spending costs -- higher rates on businesses earning more than $5 million a year and people earning more than $400,000 a year, or $450,000 for couples.
Biden's visit to Capitol Hill took place after a private meeting that Pelosi called Friday morning did little to resolve the disputes. Lawmakers from swing districts pleaded for passage of the infrastructure bill, while liberals in safe Democratic seats said they would not vote yes until the Senate agreed on the larger measure.
Many Democrats had issued public pleas for Biden to get more personally involved in the negotiations, saying he needed to allay the escalating mistrust and frustration.
"I think the president might be the only person that can bridge both the trust gap and the timing gap," said Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn.
Pelosi opened the morning meeting with an appeal for unity, telling lawmakers they could stay strong if they united, according to people familiar with the session who described it on condition of anonymity.
The infrastructure bill, which would provide $550 billion in new funding, includes $65 billion to expand high-speed internet access; $110 billion for roads, bridges and other projects; $25 billion for airports; and the most funding for Amtrak since the passenger rail service was founded in 1971. It would also accelerate a national shift toward electric vehicles, with new charging stations and fortifications of the electricity grid that will be necessary to power those cars.
"We've been fighting for transformative legislation as all of you know; these discussions have gone on for month after month after month," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the chairman of the Budget Committee. "This is not a baseball game. This is the most significant piece of legislation in 70 years."
Information for this article was contributed by Lisa Mascaro, Zeke Miller, Mary Clare Jalonick, Jonathan Lemire, Kevin Freking, Brian Slodysko and Padmananda Rama of The Associated Press; by Tony Romm, Mike DeBonis and Marianna Sotomayor of The Washington Post; and by Emily Cochrane, Luke Broadwater and Jonathan Weisman of The New York Times.
