Biden was hailed as "Mr. Bipartisan" - until he wasn't. Today the papers are confused that Biden appears to be pushing ahead with his agenda without bipartisan support. This is to misunderstand Joe Biden; he was bipartisan, not as and end in itself, but as a means to an end - getting legislation passed in the Senate. Reaching across the aisle was the means available to him in the Senate and he used it in the service of getting stuff done.
But it seems that there is no willingness to compromise on the Republican side. Biden tested the waters early on with the stimulus package. He tried to reach a deal with some of the moderate GOP senators but they were there only for show, to provide their base with a talking point that "They tried, they really did."
So if there is no acceptable means of getting stuff done with bipartisan support, then Biden, ever the pragmatist, will do whatever it takes. It's not about bipartisanship; it's about accomplishing something meaningful; and if adhering to the former renders the latter inadequate and insufficient, then bipartisanship has to go.
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