Joe Biden and congressional Democrats were locked in tense negotiations on Wednesday evening at what the White House called a “precarious and important time” for the US president’s sweeping legislative agenda.
Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, met Biden at the White House for crunch talks on the eve of what was expected to be a series of make-or-break votes for the president’s party.
“We are obviously at a precarious and important time in these discussions,” said Jen Psaki, White House press secretary. “Our objective here is to work towards unity . . . We’re not there yet.”