White House, Washington, D.C. — Monday Meeting Planned as Government Shutdown Deadline Nears

President Donald Trump plans to meet Monday at the White House with the top four congressional leaders, one day before the deadline to fund the federal government or face a shutdown.

The planned meeting will include House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, according to a White House official and two other people familiar with the planning who were granted anonymity because the meeting has not been announced.

Schumer and Jeffries issued a joint statement Saturday night saying that President Trump has agreed to another Oval Office meeting. They reiterated that Democrats are willing to sit down “anywhere, anytime, with anyone” to hammer out a bipartisan spending deal that serves the public, stressing their commitment to averting a shutdown and tackling what they called the GOP’s health care crisis. “Time is running out,” they warned. The planned meeting was first reported by Punchbowl News.

Talks have stalled in recent days as Democrats, particularly in the Senate, have declined to provide the votes needed to pass a measure to keep the government open beyond Tuesday. Without action, a shutdown would begin at 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

A previously secured meeting between Democrats and Trump was canceled after Republican leaders intervened, according to a Schumer aide. Schumer then spoke privately with Thune on Friday, urging that a meeting with Trump be scheduled given the deadline.

Responding Saturday night, Ryan Wrasse, a spokesman for Thune, said: “As rank-and-file Democrats begin to question their leadership’s unsustainable position, Sen. Schumer is clearly getting nervous. “There’s a straightforward solution, and they’ll have the opportunity to choose it next week.”

Democrats have sought key health care provisions in exchange for their votes, including an extension of subsidies that help low- and middle-income earners purchase insurance through the Affordable Care Act and a reversal of Medicaid cuts included in the GOP’s tax measure earlier this year. Republicans have rejected those demands, saying they are willing to discuss health policy separately from government funding, and are seeking a straightforward seven-week extension of current funding.

Earlier in the week, Johnson said he had encouraged Trump not to meet with Democratic leaders. “He and I talked about it at length yesterday and the day before. I said, look, when they get their job done, once they do the basic governing work of keeping the government open, as president, then you can have a meeting with him,” Johnson said on the Mike & McCarty Show in Louisiana. “Perhaps it’ll be helpful at that stage, yet at present it’s simply wasting his time.”

Thune noted he had a conversation with the president about the meeting and offered his perspective, which he declined to reveal. He said the president “speaks for himself” and concluded the meeting wouldn’t be worthwhile.

Democrats have expressed confidence that voters would blame Trump and Republicans for any disruption in federal services, though that is not assured. Republicans had planned to highlight in the Senate Democrats’ refusal to support a stopgap bill, while House Republicans intended to remain away from Washington, drawing criticism from Democrats; Jeffries said they were “on vacation.”

Source: AP News