Washington — President Trump will meet with Democratic leaders as Congress seems to be barreling toward a government shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries confirmed Tuesday.
Schumer and Jeffries, both New York Democrats, said in a statement that following “weeks of Republican stonewalling in Congress, President Trump has agreed to meet this week in the Oval Office.”
“In the meeting, we will emphasize the importance of addressing rising costs, including the Republican healthcare crisis,” the Democrats said. “It’s past time to meet and work to avoid a Republican-caused shutdown.”
Schumer and Jeffries have repeatedly asked Republican leaders to negotiate with them on a short-term funding patch. In a letter to Mr. Trump this past weekend, Schumer and Jeffries demanded a meeting with the president and said Democrats would not support a “dirty spending bill” that does not address their health care priorities.
“Republicans will bear responsibility for another painful government shutdown because of the refusal of GOP congressional leadership to even talk with Democrats,” the letter said. “As a result, it is now your obligation to meet with us directly to reach an agreement to keep the government open and address the Republican healthcare crisis.”
Competing proposals to keep the government funded past the Sept. 30 deadline failed in the Senate on Friday. The Republican measure would fund the government until Nov. 21, and provide an $88 million boost in security funding for lawmakers, Supreme Court justices and the executive branch. The Democratic proposal would keep it open until Oct. 31 and included security funding, health care priorities and other provisions that would roll back Mr. Trump’s policies.
Republicans argued Democrats have no reason to oppose their bill because it does not include any controversial provisions.
The Republican bill narrowly cleared the House earlier Friday.
Mr. Trump on Friday told reporters that the there could be a shutdown amid the impasse.
“We’ll continue to talk to the Democrats, but I think you could very well end up with a closed country for a period of time,” he said.
On Saturday, Mr. Trump said, “I’d love to meet with them, but I don’t think it’s going to have any impact.”
After votes Friday, the House and Senate left Washington for at least a week. Both chambers were originally scheduled to be in recess until Sept. 29, but House leaders extended their break past the Oct. 1 deadline to pressure the Senate to adopt their bill. They said members should be prepared to return to Washington if the government shuts down.
