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The original plan was also one that everyone rejected from the beginning Mr. Trump even criticized public-private partnerships, which were key to the plans financing and no new plan has been put forward since.

But Democrats went to the White House for a meeting, intent to play along as if there was a chance.

Ms. Pelosi requested the meeting with Mr. Trump, in part to change the conversation from impeachment to infrastructure and to demonstrate that Democrats want to proceed with a policy agenda, and not merely with investigations of the president.

For Mr. Trump, an infrastructure deal would provide him with a bipartisan achievement he could point to while campaigning.

Democrats arrived on Tuesday with a dozen-member delegation of lawmakers. Mr. Trump was accompanied by Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary, as well as seven White House aides, including his daughter Ivanka Trump, who is also a presidential adviser; Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council; and Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel.

I would like to do something, Mr. Trump told the group, according to a Democratic aide. It may not be typically Republican. The president made it clear that he had never supported the public-private partnership model to fund a bill that his aides, like Gary D. Cohn, his former top economic adviser, had pitched. That was a Gary bill, he said of his earlier attempt at an infrastructure bill. That bill was so stupid.

Meetings between the president and the two Democratic leaders have often taken a surprising turn.

Mr. Trump has conducted supposedly closed-door sessions on live television, or shuttled his guests to the Situation Room for maximum privacy. They, in turn, have surprised him by getting out their versions of what happened as soon as they got to the driveway in front of the White House, where reporters are usually waiting.

In September 2017, for instance, after Mr. Schumer and Ms. Pelosi joined the president for in-house Chinese food, they announced that Mr. Trump had agreed to work on an immigration deal, including protections for thousands of young immigrants from deportation. Mr. Trump was later forced to backtrack from that position.

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But just as liberals are invoking the founding fathers to press for impeachment, more moderate Democrats, whose districts will most likely control who is in the majority after next years elections, are doing the same to urge caution.

I believe, ultimately, what the founders created for us in our democracy is clear: When you disagree with someones approach or believe he or she is abusing the Constitution, you vote them out, said Representative Josh Gottheimer, a centrist Democrat from New Jersey. You could impeach them, if it merits it, or you can beat them with better ideas and a better approach.

The founders left the definition of high crimes and misdemeanors the criteria for impeachment, along with more specific offenses like treason and bribery open to interpretation. And the report from Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, did not provide clear guidance.

The challenge is that the Mueller investigation did a data dump onto the American public and Congress, and the data dump suggests obstruction of justice, which would satisfy the requirement of high crimes and misdemeanors, said Timothy Naftali, a New York University historian and an author of the recent book Impeachment: An American History. But the prosecutors didnt say it, and the Justice Department isnt saying it. And so its up to Congress to decide.

Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, a freshman Democrat from Pennsylvania, has been thrown back to her days as a teenager watching the Watergate hearings and the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon unfold. She said she wakes up in the middle of the night thinking about the Mueller report.

If were just looking at the facts, then we have the same facts that led to the impeachment of Richard Nixon in terms of obstruction of justice, misleading the public, hiding evidence and suggesting the creation of false evidence, said Ms. Scanlon, the vice chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee.

But, she added, there is also a political calculation. What are the politics of initiating an impeachment if the Republican-led majority in the Senate doesnt believe that this type of conduct warrants impeachment?

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If anybody thinks Bernie Sanders is incapable of doing politics, they havent seen him in Congress for 30 years, said Tad Devine, Mr. Sanderss longtime strategist, who is not working for his campaign this year. The guy is trying to win this time.

But such outreach matters little to many Democrats, especially donors and party officials, who are growing more alarmed about Mr. Sanderss candidacy.

Mr. Brock, who supported Mrs. Clintons past presidential bids, said the Bernie question comes up in every fund-raising meeting I do. Steven Rattner, a major Democratic Party donor, said the topic was discussed endlessly in his orbit, and among Democratic leaders it was becoming hard to block out.

It has gone from being a low hum to a rumble, said Susan Swecker, the chairwoman of Virginias Democratic Party.

Howard Wolfson, who spent months immersed in Democratic polling and focus groups on behalf of former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, had a blunt message for Sanders skeptics: People underestimate the possibility of him becoming the nominee at their own peril.

The discussion about Mr. Sanders has to date been largely confined to private settings because like establishment Republicans in 2016 Democrats are uneasy about elevating him or alienating his supporters.

The matter of What To Do About Bernie and the larger imperative of party unity has, for example, hovered over a series of previously undisclosed Democratic dinners in New York and Washington organized by the longtime party financier Bernard Schwartz. The gatherings have included scores from the moderate or center-left wing of the party, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California; Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader; former Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia; Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., himself a presidential candidate; and the president of the Center for American Progress, Neera Tanden.

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The conclusion of the Mueller investigation into whether Trump colluded with Russia in the election has been submitted. And, Mueller's report will be governed by rules written in the wake of the Starr Report. We explain. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON Members of Congress continued to wait Sunday for Attorney General William Barr to provide a summary of conclusions from a nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.Barr told lawmakers on Friday he could release the findings as soon as this weekend.

Democrats have raised concerns that officials may try to limit access to the report to a select few the top eight Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress and on key committees known as the Gang of Eight.

"Do not think you can bury this report," Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on ABCs "This Week." "Do not think you can bury the evidence in secret by briefing eight people in Congress and say we have discharged our responsibility. That's not going to cut it. So it is essential that the report be made completely public."

Waiting for the Mueller report: Justice Department could reveal conclusions of Russia inquiry on Sunday

Mueller report: Here's what we know and still don't know (and may never know)

Despite the findings, Democrats have vowed to continue their own investigations.

Republicans criticized the Democrat's ongoing probes, saying the focus of the Mueller investigation was to determine whether there was conspiracy or collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to impact the 2016 election.

"Weve not seen any of that,"Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, also said on ABCs "This Week."

Jordan said Democrats had said Mueller was the right person to conduct the investigation.

"He is the best person we can pick. Hes right next to Jesus. He can almost walk on water,"Jordan said. "He will have the definitive statement on that fundamental question but all indications are that theres not going to be any findings of any collusion whatsoever."

House Democratic leaders held a conference call with members Saturday afternoon urging members to press for access to the report.

With the White House in the background special counsel Robert Mueller walks to St. John's Episcopal Church, for morning services, across from the White House, in Washington, March 24, 2019.(Photo: Cliff Owen, AP)

Leaders of key House committees led by Democrats said Sunday investigations will continue, including one looking into Trump's finances and other aspects of his presidency.

The House Judiciary Committee recently launched an investigation into whether Trump sought to obstruct justice or misuse his powers, requesting documents from 81 "agencies, entities, and individuals" connected to the administration and Trump's private businesses.

The House Intelligence Committee announced it will look into Russian interference in the 2016 election as well as Trumps foreign financial interests.

"The job of Congress is much broader than the job of special counsel.The special counsel was looking and can only look for crimes,"Rep. Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said on Fox "News Sunday." "We have a much broader mandate and we have to exercise that mandate to protect the integrity of government and protect the integrity of liberty and the country."

Republicans slammed Democrats for continuing the investigations, calling it part of a "fishing expedition."

"They dont think this Muellers report is going to be the bombshell they all anticipated it was going to beso now theyre launching all kinds of other charges, all kinds of other investigations," Jordan said,

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican, agreed.

One day after Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded his Russia investigation, President Donald Trump spent Saturday in Palm Beach, at his Mar-a-Lago estate and golfing at his golf club. (March 23) AP, AP

"If anyone thinks that the Mueller report being concluded is the end of the Democrats attempt to take down President Trump, they havent been paying attention the last two years," he said on CNNs "State of the Union."

The House overwhelmingly supported a resolution in Marchpressing for lawmakers to get a copy of the full Mueller report. TheSenate, however, blocked the measure.

Some Republicans also called Sunday for full access to the report.

I want to see all of it,'' Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said on NBCs Meet the Press. "What was the underlying criminal predicate for the entire investigation."

He said Trump should also support transparency,The best thing for the country and for the president is for this probe to move forward and to be concluded."

Despite earlier calls by some Democrats to try to impeach Trump, Nadler and Schiff said Sunday its too early to talk about impeachment.

"Our mandate is not to impeach the president or anything like that,"said Nadler. "Our mandate is to defend the rule of law and to vindicate our constitutional liberties and to buck up the institutions that have been weakened by the attacks of this administration."

Republicans, however, said Democrats are backpedaling on their call to impeachment and have every intention of trying to unseat Trump.

"What theyre basically saying is they are going to impeach the president for being Donald Trump," said Cruz. "And they dont care about the evidence."

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South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg proposed scrapping the Electoral College from the start of his campaign, one of several radical changes to American politics now embraced by several candidates. Charles Krupa/AP hide caption

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg proposed scrapping the Electoral College from the start of his campaign, one of several radical changes to American politics now embraced by several candidates.

Democratic presidential hopefuls are betting on bold.

The majority of the Democrats running for president want to create a national health insurance program. Several want to do away with private health insurance entirely. Candidates are engaging on questions about reparations for slavery, and most of the White House hopefuls have endorsed the goal of a carbon-neutral economy within the next decade.

Increase the size of the U.S. Supreme Court? Several candidates are now on board.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren underscored the trend toward outside-the-box thinking this week during a CNN town hall, when she endorsed eliminating the Electoral College and selecting presidents through the national popular vote.

"My view is that every vote matters. And that means get rid of the Electoral College," Warren said.

The repeated rush to endorse radical proposals is starting to make some Democratic officials and operatives worried. They're concerned it could turn off moderate voters and play into President Trump's strategy of painting the Democratic Party as radical and socialist.

"The only way Trump can win is making the Democratic nominee and the Democratic positions the issue," said former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. "Even if the eventual nominee is Joe Biden or Amy Klobuchar, even if they're a left-of-center moderate, there will be so much flak out there with these proposals that I think it's going to be fairly easy for president Trump to pin all those on the Democratic Party in the general [election]."

Rendell is especially worried about the power that message could have in the three states that put Trump in the White House: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg disagrees. "I think part of how you inspire people is by offering bold proposals," he told NPR. "Now they have to make sense, they have to be something that can earn respect on both sides of the aisle, but we shouldn't be afraid of talking about big ideas."

Buttigieg pushed for abolishing the Electoral College on the first day of his exploratory presidential campaign. He was one of the first candidates to propose expanding the size of the Supreme Court a proposal with a historical record. Fellow Democrats blocked a similar plan when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt pushed it in his second term.

Even as Buttigieg promotes himself as a candidate who can appeal to the types of disaffected Midwestern Democrats who helped fuel Trump's 2016 victory, Buttigieg said he made a decision to emphasize big, radical proposals. "Part of the idea of proposing something that probably can't be done without a constitutional amendment is to remind everybody that constitutional fixes are one of the best features of the Constitution itself. There's nothing exotic or unthinkable about tuning up our democracy through the amendment process."

Besides, he argued, "If the system weren't broken we wouldn't have gotten to where we are today. We're going to look, I think, unconvincing if we're unwilling to change whatever features of the system."

Here are some of the major changes currently on the table in the 2020 Democratic primary campaign:

Reparations: While most Democrats aren't backing direct financial payments to descendants of slaves, many of the candidates are framing various economic reforms around the idea of making up for centuries of systematic racism. "We have to recognize that everybody did not start out on equal footing in this country. And in particular black people have not," California Sen. Kamala Harris told The Grio. "And so we have got to recognize that and do something about that and give folks a lift up."

Farewell to the filibuster: Several candidates have embraced eliminating the legislative filibuster, a Senate rule requiring support from 60 lawmakers to advance most bills, so that legislation can pass with a simple majority like in the House. "The filibuster will essentially doom us to a situation where we'll never be able to fight climate change," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee told NPR. Though, several of the senators running have been cautious about this idea.

Eliminate the Electoral College: A constitutional change wouldn't be the only route for this. Colorado recently became the latest state signing onto a compact to award its electoral votes to the national vote-winner, though the agreement wouldn't kick in until enough states have joined to produce the 270 electoral votes a candidate currently needs to win the White House. Buttigieg said it's a simple argument: "We ought to actually be place where the person who gets the most votes for president gets to win the election." Of course, it's the Democrats who have twice won the popular vote and lost the White House within the past twenty years.

End private health insurance: Not only do the majority of the Democratic candidates want to implement a national Medicare-for-all health care system, several have said that under such a setup, private medical insurance wouldn't be needed.

Amidst all this, several Democratic strategists and operatives are eyeing the voters who ditched the party for Trump in 2016, and pleading for moderation. "Given Trump's performance, a good chunk of those are up for grabs," said Rendell. "We can get them if we have a candidate who they believe is honestly interested in moderating the views of the party and making progress."

"Incremental progress can be terrific," the former mayor, governor, and DNC chair told NPR. But it's increasingly clear that's a view that many in the party are leaving behind, as Buttigieg and most of the rest of the Democratic field are placing their bets elsewhere. That's despite the fact that most party leaders believe Democrats won back control of the House of Representatives by banking on moderate, cautious candidates in Republican-leaning districts.

The eye-popping online fundraising many of the candidates are bringing in, as well as the large crowds they're commanding at rallies held a year before primary and caucus votes, indicate these big, bold proposals are exciting Democratic voters.

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