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Democrats hold a slim majority in the Senate,
making Manchin and Sinema critical to the $3.5 trillion bill's
prospects.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the
purpose of the meetings was to discuss a "path forward" on
Biden's proposed legislation.
Sinema spokesman John LaBombard said, "Today's meeting was
productive, and Kyrsten is continuing to work in good faith with
her colleagues and President Biden as this legislation
develops."
LaBombard did not provide details of the conversation.
"Today, the president had productive individual meetings with
Senator Sinema and Senator Manchin about his Build Back Better
agenda. He is in regular touch with a wide range of House and
Senate members and continues to engage with them as we move
forward on the reconciliation package so we can deliver for
middle class families," a White House official said.
Manchin was scheduled to discuss the wide-ranging spending and
tax bill on Wednesday evening, Psaki indicated.
The legislation - opposed by Republicans - aims to supplement a
separate bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill and would
focus on education, childcare, climate-related projects and
other matters.
The meeting comes after Manchin over the weekend said he would
not back a $3.5 trillion package and urged a slimmer version,
putting him at odds with other Democrats backing the larger bill
to tackle the party's major policy goals while they maintain a
narrow hold on Congress.
Democrats are steering the legislation through Congress using a
special procedure called budget reconciliation. It would allow
them to win Senate passage with a simple majority made up of 48
Democrats, the two independents who caucus with them, and Vice
President Kamala Harris breaking a likely 50-50 tie, thus
bypassing Republican opposition.
Under Senate rules, most other legislation needs to win at least
60 votes in the 100-member chamber to advance.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi is aiming to hold
a vote on the $3.5 trillion package, which could be revised
downward, by the end of September and send it to the Senate for
consideration.
With a slim Democratic majority in the House, Pelosi will have
to satisfy competing demands from the progressive and moderate
wings of her party.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Richard Cowan; Additional
reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Steve Holland; Editing by Will
Dunham, Doina Chiacu and Jonathan Oatis)
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