President Joe Biden undermined his campaign-trail claim of being a master deal-maker when the 36-year senator was forced to walk back his pledge to sign a bipartisan infrastructure bill only if Democrats quickly passed an even bigger one without Republican votes.

Angst on Capitol Hill among the GOP and Democratic senators with whom Biden and his top aides negotiated had to be stamped out with a weekend statement divorcing the bipartisan deal from what might be a $6 trillion measure sure to anger the 50 Republican senators poised to vote against it. But Biden stepped on his own bipartisan victory when, during an off-the-cuff moment with reporters, he linked the cross-the-aisle deal to the coming reconciliation package.