Yahoo TV

President Joe Biden was under pressure on Monday to prove his much-touted interest in working with Republicans in Congress, as lawmakers returned from their spring break to grapple with his $2.3 trillion proposal to improve U.S. infrastructure.

The Democratic president appears to be losing political capital with 10 Senate Republicans who have signaled an openness to working with Democrats, including Susan Collins and Mitt Romney, whose support could give him the votes to pass bipartisan legislation.

Biden's party narrowly controls the House of Representatives and Senate, meaning he can ill afford to lose Democratic votes. That has emboldened Democratic moderates such as Senator Joe Manchin, who have outsized influence over his legislative priorities.

Biden, who was in the Senate for 36 years, has repeated his stated desire to collaborate with Republicans. He hosted Republicans and Democrats from both chambers at a White House meeting on Monday to discuss a way forward on the infrastructure plan.

"I'm prepared to negotiate as to how the extent of the, my infrastructure project as well as how we pay for it," Biden said as he sat with the lawmakers in the Oval Office.

"It's going to get down to what we call infrastructure. And I'm confident everything's going to work out perfectly," he said, smiling.