As Talks Bog Down, Hopes for Bipartisan Deals on Biden’s Priorities Dim

Democrats and Republicans remain at odds on issues such as infrastructure, policing reform and a commission on the Jan. 6 Capitol assault.

WASHINGTON — Negotiations in Congress over some of President Biden’s key priorities are facing new headwinds, dimming Democrats’ hopes that they might be able to overcome the partisan gridlock that has come to define Washington and quickly broker deals with Republicans to push through their ambitious agenda. After congressional Democrats muscled through Mr. Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic stimulus bill in March over Republican opposition, lawmakers went back to the negotiating table, opening bipartisan talks on a slew of his legislative priorities, such as infrastructure and policing reform. While those discussions are continuing, optimism for bipartisan breakthroughs has waned. The Biden administration and Republicans are sparring over the size of his infrastructure bill, remaining in a deadlock on a revived drive to overhaul the nation’s policing system, and lawmakers are waging a partisan fight over an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.