President Trump was set to meet with Democratic congressional leaders at the White House Monday in a last-ditch effort to avert a government shutdown as soon as Tuesday night.
The planned high-stakes sit down comes after Trump angrily scrapped plans to meet with Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries last week, a reversal that offers some hope of a deal even though neither side has signaled any willingness to compromise.
But it remains to be seen if Trump and his Republican allies will give any ground to Democrats, who are demanding reversal of some of his health care cuts as the price of allowing a stopgap spending bill to pass.
“Republican Senators, Representatives, and even Donald Trump are feeling the heat to do something about the horrible health care crisis they’ve created,” tweeted Schumer (D-New York), the Senate minority leader.
Schumer says Trump’s flip-flop on meeting with him and Jeffries for the first time since returning to power in January show he is feeling pressure to make a deal.
If government funding legislation isn’t passed by Congress and signed by Trump on Tuesday night, many government offices across the nation will be temporarily shuttered and nonexempt federal employees will be furloughed, adding to the strain on workers and the nation’s economy.
Republicans are all but daring Democrats to vote against legislation that would keep government funding mostly at current levels, but Democrats have held firm. They’re using one of their few points of leverage to demand Congress take up legislation to extend health care benefits.
“The meeting is a first step, but only a first step. We need a serious negotiation,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Trump has shown little interest in entertaining Democrats’ demands on health care, even as he agreed to the meeting Monday, which will include Republican leaders Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The bill has already passed the Republican-controlled House and would keep the government funded for seven more weeks while Congress works on annual spending legislation.
It needs support from at least 60 senators. That means that at least several Democrats would have to vote for the short-term funding bill.
Schumer caved in a similar showdown in March, but Democrats believe Trump is in a much weaker political position now, with his approval numbers deep underwater.
Among other demands, Democrats are pushing for an extension to Affordable Care Act tax credits that have subsidized health insurance for millions of people since the COVID-19 pandemic. The credits, which are designed to expand coverage for low- and middle-income people, are set to expire at the end of the year and, if not extended, would result in much higher bills for millions when they get health insurance bills for 2026.
Trump has sought to blame Democrats for any shutdown but voters may point the finger at him and the GOP since they control both houses of Congress and the White House.
The Trump administration is threatening to take advantage of a shutdown to permanently lay off federal employees.
