Speaking at a summit of community college leaders Monday, first lady Jill Biden confirmed that a key provision of her husband’s spending bill — two years of tuition-free community college — is no longer part of the package.

In his first address to Congress in April of last year, President Joe Biden said Jill Biden, who teaches at a community college in Virginia while serving as first lady, would be “deeply involved” in spearheading the effort to provide two free years of community college.

That provision was placed in the Build Back Better bill, a much larger social spending and climate change package. But that bill has languished in the Senate after failing to garner the support of key moderate Sen. Joe Manchin — and Democrats who are hoping to revive the package are now forced to whittle it down in order for it to have any hope of passing.

Jill Biden said the president had to make compromises that led to the proposal for free community college being stripped from the bill. 

“We knew this wouldn’t be easy — Joe has always said that,” the first lady told Community College National Legislative Summit in Washington. “Still, like you, I was disappointed. Because, like you, these aren’t just bills or budgets to me. We know what they mean for real people, for our students.”

Jill Biden blamed partisan politics, comparing the legislative process today to team sports. 

“Legislation becomes a football to keep away from the other side, and Americans get lost in the playbook,” she said. “Governing isn’t a game. There are no teams to root for or against, just people — Americans from all walks of life — who need help and hope. There’s no scoreboard. There’s no us versus them. If someone wins, it doesn’t mean someone else has to lose.”

She said tuition-free community college is about training the U.S. workforce and helping a “fragile” middle class struggling to pay bills, books and child care so they can attend classes.

“We’ve all had that bright, engaged student — someone who has so much passion and potential — fade from our classes because they can’t find a reliable babysitter,” the first lady said. “They start missing lectures. They fall behind and just can’t catch up. Or the cost of child care just gets to be too much, and they have to choose between extra shifts at work and pursuing the degree that will help them earn more money.”

But Jill Biden said her husband is not giving up. 

“He is keeping his promise to rebuild our middle class, and he knows that community colleges do just that,” she said. “He knows that you are our greatest resource and our best investment. He will keep fighting for us.”

President Biden has continued to promote the Build Back Better bill in public appearances since Manchin, D-W.Va, announced in December he would not vote for the $1.9 trillion plan. 

During an interview Sunday on CNN, Manchin said the legislation, “as it has been presented over the last seven, eight, nine months, that bill no longer will exist.” But he said parts of the legislation might be reintroduced in Congress.

When asked if he had spoken to the president about a slimmed-down version of the bill, Manchin said they had one conversation, “but we really didn’t get in to that.” Manchin said he’s more concerned now about passing a budget.

Spectrum News' Justin Tasolides contributed to this report.