The next nine days are the most important of Biden’s young presidency: He needs to rescue his legislative agenda in Congress, rescue his party’s political candidates in two states and rescue America’s leadership on climate policy in Scotland.

The White House is hoping for a virtuous cycle of developments that will help accomplish all three goals: Securing a deal on the reconciliation bill could help Democratic candidates in Virginia and New Jersey. The climate provisions of the final deal will tell world leaders at next week’s COP26 how serious the United States is when it comes to reaching Biden’s stated emissions goals…

The White House wanted to have a final deal on the sweeping reconciliation package clinched Sunday after Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) and Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER had a breakfast meeting with the president in Wilmington, Del. Instead, it was another day of inconclusive talks. (“Progress, but not there yet,” a senior White House official told Playbook.) So Biden will begin his tour of the two big 2021 electoral battleground states without a deal in hand.