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Hey, good morning, playbookers.

I'm Rugu Monavalin.

It's Monday, and this is your Politico Playbook Daily Briefing.

Congress returns from recess today with 13 days until Speaker Pelosi's Halloween deadline

to pass infrastructure and social services legislation.

One problem, the latter has yet to be written, or really even outlined.

And yet, a series of calls Sunday with sources we trust to give us an honest read on the state

of play turned up some genuine optimism they can get it done.

The end of October is both the official deadline to renew transportation funding and the

effective deadline to provide a boost to Democrat

Terry McHoliffe in his surprisingly close campaign for Virginia governor. As Heather Cagle and Burgess Everett wrote over the weekend,

there's a recognition among top Democrats that they've got to get this done to help save the state, and that a loss could be seen as an indictment of the party's legislative agenda.

Here's the question, can they make that deadline?

Despite the mud-slinging between Senators Joe Manchin and Bernie Sanders right now,

significant concessions are being made behind the scenes as we speak.

Last week, the White House began scrambling to rewrite a core build-back better climate provision,

after coming to terms with what Mansion has said for weeks,

that he opposes a federal program to punish utilities that burn fossil fuels and reward those

that transition to clean energy.

Aronsack Coleman reported last week that the White House is considering an alternative that could

appeal to Manchin, making it, quote, easier for coal and natural gas power plants to receive

...