Biden hosts first talks with McConnell, McCarthy

Biden, a Democrat and former longtime U.S. senator from Delaware, has sought to reduce partisan tension in Washington and pledged to work with both parties to advance his policy goals, which face stiff opposition from Republicans.

"The bottom line here is we're going to see whether we can reach some consensus" on a compromise over infrastructure, Biden said at the start of talks with Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives respectively.