President Biden backed away from a corporate tax hike to pay for his massive social spending plans on Thursday night, as he offered a concession to holdout centrist Democrats and claimed he was close to a deal.
But he also drew a red line during a CNN town hall, saying he would not introduce a work requirement for people getting child tax credits.
The event, in front of an invited audience in Baltimore, was a chance to deliver his message directly to the public while his own party remains divided in Washington.
Host Anderson Cooper pressed him on whether he would be able to push through a proposed increase in corporate take to help fund trillions of dollars in new spending.
'No, I don't think we're going to be able to get the votes,' he said.
His plan called for an increase in the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent for the biggest companies, triggering warnings that it could hamper growth and that the costs would be passed on to workers and consumers.
'I'm prepared to do the things that we can get done now, that can begin to change the lives of ordinary Americans to give them a fighting chance and come back and try to get others later,' he said.
As Biden seeks a final agreement in coming days, questions have emerged about whether some of his most oft-cited promises, like raising taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans might have to be dropped to ensure passage of the spending bill
Biden also explained that he had reduced his vision for paid parental leave.
'It is down to four weeks,' he said. 'I can't get 12 weeks.'
President Biden appeared at a CNN town hall on Thursday evening, and announced he was scaling back his spending plans and would not need to ramp up corporate tax
It marked the third time Biden has appeared on a CNN town hall since becoming president
The president has conducted only 10 interviews during his time in office, far fewer than his immediate predecessors.
Thursday marked the third time he has appeared at a CNN town hall since taking office, with members of the public asking questions rather than the intensive grilling of a one-on-on interview.
His social spending plan remains deadlocked between progressives who want to push through a huge overhaul of social spending and centrists - Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin - who want to reduce the price of the bill from its original $3.4 trillion.
Biden immediately faced questions about whether he could bring around the holdouts in his own party, particularly Manchin.
'Joe's not a bad guy,' said Biden. 'He's a friend and he's always the end of the day come around.'
At the start of the evening he also said he believed he was close to a deal pass infrastructure and massive social spending plans after weeks of intraparty bickering.
'I think so, you know, look ... I was a senator for 370 years,' he said triggering laughter.
'I was relatively good at putting together deals.'
But he pushed back at proposals that parents and other caregivers meet a work requirement before receiving a child tax credit.
'No, here's the deal. All these people are
