By Jarrett Renshaw and Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden and his senior Democratic allies in Congress are preparing to lower their ambitions for a signature legislative achievement on their top social priorities.

Biden, his staff and others are struggling to pass their $3.5 trillion Social-Spending Proposal. According to those familiar, they’re trying to figure out what narrower plan could bring together an ideologically split Democratic caucus.

Biden has cancelled his planned visit to Chicago this Wednesday in order to curry favor with reluctant legislators. However, those efforts are not producing any results for the White House which is running out options to get a major piece of his legislative agenda.

Officials are now shifting the message to show that this week’s legislative wrangling is not a last stand for Biden’s top economic priorities, but a route station towards ultimate success. Even if there’s no vote on an infrastructure package this week, officials will continue to shift their messages.

According to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, “It is not a major catastrophe if there’s no vote today.” Mark my words. Both the infrastructure bill and its reconciliation bill version will be passed.

The precise language changed the goals in both terms of its size and timeframe.

Adding to the complexity, the Democratic-controlled Congress still needs to act by about Oct. 18 to allow the federal government to borrow more money or face a historic debt default. The Thursday move to approve a bill that would fund the government until Dec. 3, and prevent a shutdown, creates another critical deadline just two months away.

The stakes were high, even though President Obama’s approval rating has dropped after an extremely difficult summer that included a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and continued COVID-19 concerns. Biden sees his “Build Back better” agenda which includes education and healthcare expansion, along with tackling climate changes, as key to his legacy.

NEGOTIATING WITH MODERATES

White House officials have engaged in an unsatisfying back-and-forth this week with Senator Kyrsten Sinema and others who have expressed concerns about the scope of Biden’s bill, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

These talks were intended to identify a specific amount of spending that could be acceptable to conservative Democrats.

Sinema stated to the president in a closed meeting Tuesday that she doesn’t support the $3.5 billion proposal. She also said she was reluctant discussing details until the bipartisan plan for infrastructure passes the house.

Both the amount of the bill as well as the tax increases that were used to finance it are issues for Sinema, which has led to frustration among officials at the White House trying to create a package to her support.

Andrew Bates of the White House stated that Sinema’s frustration is not true. “Senator Sinema negotiates with us with good faith, and we are supporting her,” he stated. Sinema spokeswoman declined to comment.

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Manchin supports many tax increases including the repeal of Trump’s tax cuts. However, he would prefer to spend the surplus revenue on deficit reduction and not new programs.

‘GET IT DONE’

Left-leaning and centrist-leaning Democrats have been at odds over the measures, with moderates wanting a vote on Thursday on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that already has bipartisan backing. The progressives won’t support the bill until it is larger.

Joseph Geevarghese is the executive director for Our Revolution. His remarks were about spending on climate change and social programs. The president should use his leverage to make it happen.

On the fears of conservative-leaning members who are up for re-election, the White House is attempting to dispel them from their fear that passing a massive bill funded by corporate taxes and other income tax revenues would cause voters to be alienated.

In 2022, the Senate and Democratic House of Representatives will face tight competition.

Biden, described by White House spokesperson Jen Psaki as “working around the clock” to save his agenda, tried to create a positive atmosphere for bipartisan cooperation by attending the annual congressional baseball game on Wednesday night.

Biden was met with mixed reactions when he entered the stadium. However, he enjoyed sharing ice-cream with both fellow Democrats and Republicans opposed to the spending bill.