Biden says resolving differences on Build Back Better could take "weeks"

For Democrats, the challenges they faced Thursday just days before their self-imposed holiday deadline appeared immense: Despite considerable legislative legwork, they continued to tinker with a slew of spending proposals related to climate, health care and taxes. They faced a major setback over their attempts to reform immigration. And some admitted they had not yet completed the lengthy, intricate process that would allow them to bring the bill, known as the Build Back Better Act, to the chamber floor in a manner that could skirt Republican opposition.

But the most formidable breakdown hinged on a now-familiar dispute: whether Democrats should seize on their rare, narrow and potent majorities afforded them in Congress to pursue aggressive, expensive economic reforms, or reel in their ambitions to assuage Manchin’s fiscal conservatism…

Days of private talks between Manchin and Biden ultimately produced no truce, illustrating instead the widening gap between the moderate lawmaker and many in his party. With so much in limbo, some Democrats appeared newly resigned on Thursday to the growing prospects of another delay, perhaps into next year, in a debate that has already experienced no shortage of them.