Biden pushes big plans as key to avoid 'America's decline'

“It's a real possibility,” Biden told reporters at the White House.

Meanwhile, negotiations continued on the pair of bills to boost spending on safety net, health and environmental programs and infrastructure projects. The $3.5 trillion price tag on the social services portion of Biden's agenda has long been the sticking point, with progressives demanding the funding for their priorities and moderates balking at the eye-popping number.

But there was growing consensus — which Biden has expressed privately to lawmakers, and acknowledged publicly Tuesday — that the topline number will eventually shrink.

In multiple private meetings, Biden has now floated $2 trillion as a figure for his signature package, including in a call late Monday with progressive House lawmakers, who still advocated for a higher amount, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

Next to Biden, the Democrats with the most on the line over the shape and success of his spending plans are House members from swing districts whose reelections are essential if his party is to retain control of Congress.

Many of those targeted moderates — including Arizona Rep. Tom O'Halleran, Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger and nine other vulnerable Democrats — joined Biden for a virtual meeting Tuesday. He held a similar session the previous day with a dozen progressives.

And his Tuesday visit to Slotkin's district, which President Donald Trump narrowly won in 2020, was aimed at giving moderates like her cover to support his spending package.

While Slotkin backs the smaller, bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill that has passed the Senate, she prefers passing it in the House before negotiating the broader package of social programs.

“To be honest, it was hard for me to understand why leadership decided in the first place to tie the two bills together,” Slotkin recently told The Detroit News. “That’s not how we normally operate. It’s not my preference.”

Washington was gripped with the drama last week as lawmakers grappled with the massive Democrats-only social spending bill that has been linked with the infrastructure bill. Progressives have balked at voting for the infrastructure bill if the other bill shrinks.

Yet even as talk of that shrinkage increased, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a leader of the progressives, said Tuesday, “There’s a lot of discussion going on, but I’m confident at the end of the day it’s going to be a good agreement."

“This cannot ultimately be a bill that does 18 new things, but it could do four or five or six big bold new things,” said Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, an ally of the president.

Lawmakers are considering cutting back some programs or limiting others to only people who qualify based on need.

Biden’s team huddled with the Democratic leaders late Monday at the Capitol as they rush to finish the latest draft — in "days, not weeks,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

One senator was moved to compare it all to dancing.

“The best image I know is a square dance: You come together, but then you go apart; you come together, but then you go apart,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, describing his fellow Democrats. “There’s a rhythm there, we just got to make sure we stay in rhythm. That’s the challenge.”