President Joe Biden is expected to meet with both moderate and progressive Democrats of both the House and Senate to unite his party around his $3.5 trillion social spending reconciliation package, a vital part of his economic agenda which threatens to upend progress made on his earlier infrastructure deal.

With Democrats quickly approaching deadlines on the bills, as well as a funding measure that needs to be passed by Sept. 30 in order to avoid a shutdown, the need to pass the bills is becoming more critical, but division within the party is threatening all the progress.

According to NBC News, House moderates do not want to vote to expand the social safety net until they vote to pass the infrastructure bill to improve the nation’s roads, bridges, highways, waterways and broadband. On the other side, progressives don’t want to vote to improve the nation’s crumbling, outdated infrastructure without expanding the social safety net first.

Starting at 2 p.m. EDT, Biden was expected to meet with both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Pelosi’s meeting with Biden comes just days before the Sept. 27 deadline where she said the House would vote on the $1.2 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill. Pelosi told NBC News that she is “very pleased it is very much on schedule so far” for the reconciliation bill, and that she hopes the bill will receive a vote on Monday.

Biden will also meet with a number of House moderates such as Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., Suzan DelBene, D-Wash. and Steven Horsford, D-Nev., along with Sens. Joe Manchin, D- W.Va., Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., Jon Tester, D-Mont. and Mark Warner, D-Va.

Manchin and Sinema have previously taken issue with the price tag of the reconciliation bill and may try to convince the president to water it down.

Biden is also scheduled to meet with Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Patty Murray, D-Wash. as well as Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. Many of the ideas laid out in the reconciliation bill were key Sanders campaign promises.

Jayapal told reporters that half of the 95-member progressive caucus is prepared to kill the bipartisan infrastructure bill unless the reconciliation bill passes the Senate.

“We can’t move the other bill forward until we pass reconciliation,” said Jayapal. “I don’t think the speaker is going to bring a bill up that is going to fail. Our position has not changed.”

The reconciliation bill is set to include funding for universal pre-K, childcare, paid leave, healthcare, free community college, combating climate change and expanding Medicare. If both bills manage to pass the Senate it would mark the greatest expansion of the social safety net since the 1960s.

RELATED STORIES
Climate change