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Tensions expected as Trump meets with top Democrats and Republicans in effort to avoid shutdown Trump talks with Democrats fail to yield breakthrough as US shutdown nears
(about 8 hours later)
Trump and Republicans are unfazed at prospect of shutdown, and talks with Democrats are anticipated to be confrontational Democrats strike optimistic tone after high-stakes meeting but Republicans accuse rivals of ‘hostage-taking’
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Democrats and Republicans are gearing up for a crunch White House meeting with Donald Trump in an 11th-hour bid to avert a potentially damaging federal government shutdown. A high-stakes meeting between Donald Trump and top congressional Democrats on Monday resulted in no apparent breakthrough in negotiations to keep the government open, with JD Vance declaring afterwards: “I think we are headed into a shutdown.”
Monday’s gathering is aimed at reaching an agreement over funding the government and largely hinges on Democrat demands for an extension of funding subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, beyond the end of the year, when they are due to expire. Democrats, who are refusing to support the GOP’s legislation to continue funding beyond Tuesday unless it includes several healthcare provisions, struck a more optimistic tone following the Oval Office encounter, which also included the Republican leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives.
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrat leader in the House of Representatives, and Chuck Schumer, the party’s leader in the Senate, will meet Trump along with their Republican counterparts, Mike Johnson, the House speaker, and John Thune, the Senate majority leader, for talks that are expected to be tense if not confrontational. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said he had outlined his concerns about the state of healthcare in the country to Trump, and said: “He seemed to, for the first time, understand the magnitude of this crisis.
It will be Trump’s first meeting with the two Democrats since his return to the White House in January. Jeffries and Trump have never previously met in person. “We hope he’ll talk to the Republican leaders and tell them, we need bipartisan input on healthcare, on decisions into their bill. Their bill does not have these – they never talked to us.”
Expectations for the encounter are low, with failure likely to result in large swathes of the federal government shutting down from 1 October. But there was little sign that Republicans had shifted from their demands that Senate Democrats vote for their bill that would keep the government open through 21 November, so that long-term funding talks may continue. The GOP passed that bill through the House on a near party-line vote earlier this month, but it needs at least some Democratic support to advance in the Senate.
Trump and the Republicans have signaled that they are unfazed at that prospect, calculating that the public will blame Democrat intransigence. “This is purely and simply hostage-taking on behalf of the Democrats,” said Senate majority leader John Thune.
The White House office of management and budget (OMB) has also indicated that it will exploit a shutdown to carry out more mass firings as part of its crusade to slash government bureaucracy. Referring to the Republican funding proposal, Thune said: “We could pick it up and pass it tonight, and pass it tomorrow before the government shuts down.”
An OMB memorandum said government agencies have been instructed “use this opportunity to consider reduction in force (RIF) notices for all employees in programs, projects, or activities”, The Hill reported. Vance sought to pin the blame for any shutdown on the Democrats, saying: “I think we’re headed into a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing. I hope they change their mind, but we’re gonna see.”
Republicans have also warned that Trump could make a shutdown politically costly by targeting spending programmes that are disproportionately used by Democrat-run states and cities. Trump has not yet commented publicly on the meeting, which was not opened to reporters. In an interview earlier in the day with CBS News, the president said “I just don’t know how we are going to solve this issue” and alleged the Democrats “are not interested in waste, fraud and abuse”.
CBS, citing a source close to Trump, reported that he privately welcomes the prospect of a shutdown because it would “enable him to wield executive power to slash some government programs and salaries”. The Democratic stand on healthcare comes as the party seeks to regain its footing with voters ahead of next year’s midterm elections, in which they are viewed as having a shot at regaining control of the House and winnowing the GOP’s majority in the Senate.
“I just don’t know how we are going to solve this issue,” Trump told the network in a telephone interview. “They [the Democrats] are not interested in waste, fraud and abuse.” The party has refused to support the GOP funding proposal unless it includes an extension of subsidies for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans, which expire at the end of the year. They also want the undoing of cuts to Medicaid – the program providing healthcare to poor and disabled Americans – and public media, which Republicans approved earlier in the year.
Sign up to This Week in Trumpland Schumer signaled that the Democrats may be willing to compromise. Outside the White House, he said Trump was “the decision-maker, and if he will accept some of the things we ask, which we think the American people are for, on healthcare and on rescissions, he can avoid a shutdown, but there are still large differences between us”.
A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration If Congress does not act, a shutdown will begin Wednesday at midnight, and would see workers furloughed and federal agencies close their doors. Last week, the White House Office of Management and Budget released a memo saying it would exploit a shutdown to carry out more mass firings as part of its crusade to slash government bureaucracy.
after newsletter promotion Polling from Morning Consult released on Monday found that 45% of voters would blame congressional Republicans for a shutdown, while 32% would blame Democrats.
Some Democrats have acknowledged that they have “no good options” in trying to end the standoff. In March, House Democrats voted against a Republican bill to extend government funding, only to see Schumer encourage his colleagues to advance the measure through the Senate, arguing a shutdown at that time would be “devastating”. The episode amplified disillusionment with the minority leader among the Democratic base.
“It’s doubly made no good because it’s very clear that Republicans want [a shutdown]. Trump wants it. He’s fine with that, happy to have it,” The Hill quoted a Democratic Senate aide as saying.. “I don’t really know what your good option here is when they want one.” On Monday afternoon, reports circulated that Schumer had discussed with Democratic lawmakers the possibility of voting for a bill that would keep the government open for about a week. At a press conference that evening, Schumer insisted he was not going to change his demands.
However, Schumer is under pressure to be seen taking a more actively confrontational stance after being fiercely criticized by fellow Democrats for backing a Republican funding packing in March to avert an earlier government shutdown. “We have to get it done,” he said. “The way to do this is the president, who is really listening to us, tells the Republicans to do it.”
With Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican senator, likely to vote against the funding package, it would need the support of eight Democrats to overcome a Senate filibuster.