1 month ago
6
Democratic and Republican legislature leaders are heading to the White House for a gathering with President Donald Trump connected Monday successful a precocious effort to debar a authorities shutdown, but some sides person shown hardly immoderate willingness to budge from their entrenched positions.
If authorities backing authorities isn't passed by Congress and signed by Trump connected Tuesday night, galore authorities offices crossed the federation volition beryllium temporarily shuttered and nonexempt national employees volition beryllium furloughed, adding to the strain connected workers and the nation's economy.
Republicans are daring Democrats to ballot against authorities that would support authorities backing mostly astatine existent levels, but Democrats person held firm. They're utilizing 1 of their fewer points of leverage to request Congress instrumentality up authorities to widen wellness attraction benefits.
"The gathering is simply a archetypal step, but lone a archetypal step. We request a superior negotiation," Senate Democratic person Chuck Schumer said Sunday connected NBC's "Meet the Press."
Trump has shown small involvement successful entertaining Democrats' demands connected wellness care, adjacent arsenic helium agreed to clasp a sit-down gathering Monday with Schumer, on with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Democratic person Hakeem Jeffries. The Republican president has said repeatedly helium afloat expects the authorities to participate a shutdown this week.
"If it has to unopen down, it'll person to unopen down," Trump said Friday. "But they're the ones that are shutting down government."
The Trump medication has tried to unit Democratic lawmakers into backing distant from their demands, informing that national employees could beryllium permanently laid disconnected successful a backing lapse.
"Chuck Schumer said a fewer months agone that a authorities shutdown would beryllium chaotic, harmful and painful. He's right, and that's wherefore we shouldn't bash it," Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said Sunday connected "Meet the Press."
Still, Democrats argued Trump's statement to clasp a gathering shows he's feeling the unit to negotiate. They accidental that due to the fact that Republicans power the White House and Congress, Americans volition mostly blasted them for immoderate authorities shutdown.
But to clasp connected to their negotiating leverage, Senate Democrats volition apt person to ballot against a measure to temporarily widen authorities backing connected Tuesday, conscionable hours earlier a shutdown - an uncomfortable presumption for a enactment that has agelong denounced shutdowns arsenic pointless and destructive.
The measure has already passed the Republican-controlled House and would support the authorities funded for 7 much weeks portion Congress works connected yearly spending legislation.
Any authorities to money the authorities volition request enactment from astatine slightest 60 senators. That means that astatine slightest 8 Democrats would person to ballot for the short-term backing bill, due to the fact that Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is expected to ballot against it.
During the past imaginable authorities shutdown successful March, Schumer and 9 different Democrats voted to interruption a filibuster and let a Republican-led backing measure to beforehand to a last vote. The New York Democrat faced fierce backlash from galore successful his ain enactment for that decision, with immoderate adjacent calling for him to measurement down arsenic Democratic leader.
This time, Schumer appears resolute.
"We're proceeding from the American radical that they request assistance connected wellness attraction and arsenic for these monolithic layoffs, conjecture what? Simple one-sentence answer: They're doing it anyway," helium said.
Democrats are pushing for an hold to Affordable Care Act taxation credits that person subsidized wellness security for millions of radical since the COVID-19 pandemic. The credits, which are designed to grow sum for low- and middle-income people, are acceptable to expire astatine the extremity of the year.
Some Republicans are unfastened to extending the taxation credits but privation changes. Thune said Sunday that the programme is "desperately successful request of reform" and Republicans privation to code "waste, fraud and abuse." He has pressed Democrats to ballot for the backing measure and instrumentality up the statement connected taxation credits later.
It remains to beryllium seen whether the White House gathering volition assistance oregon wounded the chances for a resolution. Negotiations betwixt Trump and Democratic legislature leaders person seldom gone well, and Trump has had small interaction with the opposing enactment during his 2nd term.
The astir caller dialog successful August betwixt Schumer and the president to velocity the gait of Senate confirmation votes for medication officials ended with Trump telling Schumer to "go to hell" successful a societal media post.
Trump besides abruptly canceled a gathering that was planned with legislature leaders past week, calling Democrats' demands "unserious and ridiculous."
Schumer argued that the White House coming backmost to reschedule a gathering for Monday showed that "they felt the heat."
Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
