WASHINGTON, Oct 19 Reuters - U.S. President Joe Biden's much-admired decades of congressional experience face a serious test in the days ahead, as he attempts to corral warring Democratic factions on massive spending and infrastructure bills.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi set Oct. 31 as the deadline to pass a $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal that has already passed the Senate and has broad bipartisan support, but that deadline is looking increasingly unrealistic, according to sources briefed on negotiations inside and outside the White House.
Biden was to meet separately on Tuesday afternoon with a group of moderate lawmakers who are adamantly insisting that Biden agree to a $3.5 trillion budget bill, and a different group concerning that level of spending and how to pay for it.
The liberal list includes Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a major mouthpiece of her group, but leaves out progressive firebrand Rep Pramilia Jayapal.
The moderate list has Senator Mark Warner, but not two other Democrats who have continued to refuse to go along with a $3.5 trillion bill: Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Krysten Sinema of Arizona.
Sinema was spotted at the White House the morning of Wednesday, ahead of the meetings.
One of Biden's major selling points in the presidential election was his ability to find a middle ground at a time of deep political polarization, touting his 36 years as a moderate Democratic U.S. Senator from Delaware.
Weeks of negotiations, which White House officials say have been productive, nevertheless failed to close the gap on a $3.5 trillion spending bill that advances Biden's campaign pledges on climate, inequality and infrastructure.
Biden confirmed on Oct. 1 that he could find an agreement whether it's in six minutes, six days or in six weeks but White House officials are increasingly concerned as the weeks tick by.
Administration officials have refused to provide details on specific components of the package - and potential tradeoffs - arguing they do not want to negotiate in public. They point to concerted efforts by Biden, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and others to hammer out a solution in line with their commitment to combat climate change and restructure the US economy to address longstanding inequities.
White House spokeswoman Biden told reporters on Monday that Biden is certainly feeling an urgency to move things forward, to get things done. Biden and White House officials have cautioned progressives that no compromise is to be found on a $3.5 trillion bill and that they need to lower their expectations. The Democrats' left wing insists on the full amount, arguing that is what is necessary to deliver what Biden promised voters.
Progressives refuse to go through with the infrastructure bill without an agreement on the other spending bill. Terry McAuliffe has called for an agreement in time to help give a boost to Democrat Warner's Nov. 2 bid for a second term in Virginia.
It is looking increasingly likely that Biden will be forced to go to a climate summit in Glasgow and then stay for his agenda there with no key piece of legislation confirmed - billions of dollars in spending he wants to talk about his climate policy.
The lack of concrete U.S. legislative changes on climate could thwart Republicans' drive to convince the world that America is back and an international player after Donald Trump's four years of divisive global politics.
A senior administration official pushed back against the notion that failure to reach an agreement before the G-20 leaders summit in Rome and the global talks on climate in late October and early November would undermine Biden's credibility. We are at the middle of this process. People can see that, said the official.
Manchin, the West Virginia senator, said on Tuesday he is not talking about a carbon tax in negotiations over the spending and infrastructure bills as some of his fellow Democrats in the Senate support it as a way to fight climate change.