“Let’s try to figure out what we are for in reconciliation … and then we can move ahead," Biden said, adding that even a bill smaller than $3.5 trillion "can make historic investments."

Biden’s 40-minute speech in the caucus’s basement meeting room — in which he took no questions — only seemed to sow confusion and rile up frustrated Democrats as the prospects of a large deal remained out of reach.

Biden’s lack of urgency for an infrastructure vote on Friday made it all but certain that the House would not take it up that day, just hours after members declared they were prepared to spend their weekends in the Capitol. Instead, top Democrats decided to pass a 30-day patch for a highways funding program using a fast-track method for noncontroversial bills.

Senior Democrats discussed another vote related to the president's infrastructure and spending packages — a wonky procedural tactic to formally link the bills and show forward momentum on the bill. But moderates shot down the idea, and leadership dropped it by dinnertime Friday.

“We’re going back in and we’re going to vote on the highway patch," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said, announcing plans for lawmakers to approve the highway extension and then depart the Capitol.

While liberal Democrats acknowledged after Biden’s huddle they would need to narrow their ambition for the size of the broader spending package, many progressives also felt that the White House was acknowledging their position for the first time in months.

"I feel great," said Rep. Chuy García (D-Ill.), one of dozens of progressives who had threatened he wouldn’t back the president’s infrastructure bill without promises on the broader spending plan.

Still, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said it would be “tough” to lower their sights for the party’s broader bill.

“We're gonna have to come down on our number and we're gonna have to do that work,” Jayapal said.

But Biden’s lengthy speech — in which he seemed to speak more about the merits of the bills — left several moderates lost in the wilderness after they spent weeks calling for an immediate vote on the president’s own infrastructure bill.

"The president made the call,” said centrist Rep Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich). “And we will wait to see, and hopefully as soon as possible both these bills will come to the floor."

Several Democrats — not all of whom were centrists — said they were stunned at the lack of specifics from Biden’s speech, saying they were left with zero clarity about the next steps for the president’s two biggest priorities.

"It was a shocking failure to meet the moment," said one Democratic moderate, who emerged disappointed that Biden hadn’t delivered a call to action for the caucus, and instead appeared to tick through the major tenets of his plans.

Biden’s huddle with the House Democrats’ caucus was their second all-members gathering of the day as Pelosi, the president and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer work to strike an agreement to establish the broad strokes of the party’s mammoth social spending plan. Without an accord, progressives are vowing to tank Biden’s separate infrastructure bill, which is now set for a vote later Friday after a series of delays this week.

Several Democrats publicly said Biden’s appearance is long overdue, complaining in private that he spent too much time focused on a pair of key Democratic senators— Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) — and no one else. Just before Biden arrived at the Capitol, Sinema was on the phone with the White House from Arizona as the key players continued to negotiate a potential framework for the spending bill.

Biden and party leaders have struggled to mollify the restive caucus, which can only lose three votes on the floor, or risk a potentially fatal blow to both bills.

“The House is at the table, and that’s extremely important,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said. “Because my experience previously [was] the House was not included.”

During the first two-hour meeting Friday, Pelosi took notes as dozens of her Democrats vented about the process, and at times left the room to speak to Biden himself and other top party officials, according to people in the room.

Still, many Democrats left the meeting frustrated, with little clarity on the path forward or when an agreement might be reached after Thursday night’s delay.

While senior Democrats insist they are making progress in talks, the so-called framework remains unfinished. Democratic leaders are hoping to secure a deal with Manchin and Sinema around $2.1 trillion according to multiple sources. But Manchin has insisted he won’t sign off on a bill that costs more than $1.5 trillion.

"We’re working on trying to get to a place where everybody is comfortable," Hoyer said earlier Friday.

Talks among top House, Senate and White House officials resumed early Friday morning after a late night in the Capitol, where a group of White House aides shuffled between meetings with Pelosi, Schumer and key moderates. By Friday evening, those talks continued behind closed doors with Pelosi’s leadership team.

Progressives have touted the multiple delays this week as a win, arguing that they’d once again dashed moderates’ hopes of sending the infrastructure bill to Biden’s desk without sorting out the party’s aim for the social spending plan.

Moderates publicly refused to concede, noting that the House remained in the same legislative day — a procedural move intended to show party leaders working in good faith to reach their deadline. But privately, they were fuming at progressives for insisting Thursday night that they were still demanding a Senate vote on that $3.5 trillion package — dismissing the frantic efforts to secure a framework with Manchin and Sinema.

But other Democrats have said they are much more skeptical a deal that would encompass such a massive size and scope will come together on Friday.

As closed-door talks with Senate moderates have continued, House progressives have held firm with their demand to hold a Senate vote on the social spending bill before taking up the infrastructure legislation — another key hurdle for Pelosi and her leadership team.

Pelosi angered some centrists in the morning caucus meeting by saying they previously supported a $3.5 trillion top-line social spending bill, only to back away from that now, resulting in the current delay. Several Democrats in the meeting interpreted her remarks as both House and Senate moderates.

Several House centrists insist they have never supported such a high number, despite voting for a budget resolution in August with instructions to be written to that target.

But Hoyer, who was also part of the negotiations in August, said later that the top-line was focused on “ensuring the House would consider a reconciliation bill that could pass the Senate, not a specific top-line number,” Hoyer said.

Shortly after Biden’s meeting, the Congressional Progressive Caucus held their own private meeting to discuss next steps.

“I feel like we have an affirmation about the direction we’re moving in,” said Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas.). “We need that space to make sure that we get to yes, and there’s two people in the Senate whose votes we really, really need."

Burgess Everett contributed to this report.

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