Trump-Congress Meeting Doesn’t Look Likely to Avoid a Shutdown

Even as they prepare to talk at the White House, both sides of the Senate dig in deeper.

President Donald Trump will meet with congressional leaders Monday, September 29, in hopes of reaching a deal to avoid a government shutdown. But the looming deadline of 11:59 p.m. September 30 doesn’t leave much room for error. And it’s unclear this time if even a Trump talk can overcome the partisan enmity this time.

Monday Meeting

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will all meet the president at the White House. The topic of discussion: the shutdown showdown and how to avoid it.

Republicans have a temporary funding bill that does nothing but reauthorize, for a time, the current spending levels. Democrats, on the other hand, are pushing for one that extends the Affordable Care Act and reverses cuts made to the Medicaid program, among other big-spending items.

President Trump’s plan, however, remains unclear. Will he try to broker a bipartisan deal or simply push Democrats to accept the clean GOP resolution, but whichever path he chooses, it may be to no avail.

Senators Dig in for the Shutdown Showdown

Republicans are still calling for Democrats to sign the clean continuing resolution, and Democrats call for Republicans to talk health care funding and are willing to shut the government down if necessary to get their concessions.

Sen. Thune said in a Meet the Press interview that aired on Sunday that it’s “totally up to the Democrats” whether we have a shutdown. “The ball is in their court,” Thune said. “There is a bill sitting at the desk in the Senate right now, we could pick it up today and pass it, that has been passed by the House that will be signed into law by the president to keep the government open.”

Sen. Schumer said on the same program that it’s actually up to the GOP. “God forbid the Republicans shut the government down. The American people will know it’s on their back.”

This shutdown standoff comes around every year and has become something of a routine in the Swamp. But this time, few actually seem to believe a deal will be reached in time. Democrats have suggested they’re more wiling than ever to allow a shutdown, and polling shows that’s the stance their base voters want.

“We’re hearing from the American people that they need help on health care,” Schumer said. “And as for these massive layoffs, guess what? Simple, one-sentence answer: they’re doing it anyway.”

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the clean resolution proposed by Republicans, and it seems Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) will oppose it, meaning the GOP needs to pull eight Democratic votes to send the stopgap funding on to the president’s desk.

Schumer says Democrats need “a serious negotiation” at the White House with President Trump and the rest of the congressional leaders, but he cautioned that “if the President at this meeting is going to rant and just yell at Democrats and talk about all his alleged grievances and say this, that and the other thing, we won’t get anything done. But my hope is it will be a good serious negotiation.”

Speaker Johnson, though, agrees with his Senate colleague that it’s the Democrats holding up the process. “It’s fine to have partisan debates and squabbles but you don’t hold the people hostage for their services to allow your political cover and that’s what Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are doing right now.”

Two sides, no compromise. If Trump can’t help build a deal for them, the shutdown seems nigh inevitable.