President Joe Biden put a new offer on the table for his social spending plan that he hopes will appeal to progressive and moderate members of his Democratic Party alike, according to CBS News.

On Monday, the president held a virtual conference call with the House Progressive Caucus and insisted that the price of their desired $3.5 trillion bill would need to come down to have any chance of passing. Biden floated a counteroffer with a price tag of $1.9 trillion to $2.2 trillion, a range that his White House believes will be more palatable for moderate Democratic senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.

The two senators have been locked into their opposition to the spending plan favored by progressives. They oppose the multitrillion dollar price tag as well as key provisions including climate change proposals that would undercut the fossil fuel industry. Sen. Manchin, D-W.Va., has offered a top-line figure of $1.5 trillion that he would support in additional spending, but progressives have refused it as unacceptable.

Beyond price figures, Biden and House progressives also discussed ways to reduce the cost of the program without cutting the number of plans included in the bill.

A congressional source told CBS News that the White House was angling for a shorter duration to several of the programs included. It is betting on ones that can prove popular with the American public and then become renewed at a later date once they approach expiration.

Another idea was to include means testing for several programs. House lawmakers were more skeptical of this proposal, arguing that it would be difficult to apply in some cases over others and undercut the programs' appeal.

While progressives walked out of the meeting with Biden upbeat about the talks, there remains wariness about whether it will be enough to sway either Manchin or Sinema. Progressives have persistently assailed the two of them for their intransigence on the bills, and Biden, too, has signaled a level of frustration with the impasse they are creating.

Last week, Biden met with both senators at the White House in a last-minute bid to secure their support for the social spending bill, so as to free up a vote on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal that passed the Senate in August. However, it was to little avail as neither moderate has swayed from their positions.

Sen. Manchin has called for the smaller physical infrastructure bill to pass and to continue negotiations on the social spending one. This pitch for more negotiations received pushback from progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., over the weekend.

Speaking to CBS News’ Face the Nation on Sunday, the congresswoman said that progressives are happy to negotiate but moderates have not come to meet them at the table.

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