Top Democrats are demanding a meeting with President Donald Trump, as Congress heads toward a shutdown deadline in 10 days without a clear off-ramp.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sent a letter to Trump on Saturday, accusing him of wanting a shutdown and urging Republicans to negotiate.
“With the September 30th deadline fast approaching, Republicans will bear responsibility for another painful government shutdown because of the refusal of GOP congressional leadership to even talk with Democrats,” Schumer and Jeffries wrote.
“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,” they added.
The demand for a meeting comes after the Senate rejected dueling stopgap spending bills on Friday: a GOP-led bill that would fund the government until Nov. 21 and a Democrat bill that would link government funding through Oct. 31 with health care policies and limits on Trump’s ability to withhold money Congress has approved.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Democratic leaders’ letter. But on Friday, Trump indicated in the Oval Office that a shutdown could be coming.
“I think we could very well end up with a closed country for a period of time,” he told reporters, blaming Democrats for the pending shutdown.
Schumer and Jeffries have twice requested a meeting with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson but said that Republicans didn’t respond.
Thune said this week that he is open to speaking with Schumer but indicated that the onus is on the New York Democrat to reach out to him directly.
“They have something that they want to bring to us and talk about, and certainly we’re open to talking, but like I said before, I’ve been available now for weeks,” Thune said.
But Republicans are also trying to jam Democrats into accepting their bill — something Democrats have vowed not to do without a bipartisan negotiation. Schumer and Jeffries reiterated in their letter that they are “ready to work toward a bipartisan spending agreement that improves the lives of American families and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis.”
The House is currently out of town until after the shutdown deadline, meanwhile the Senate will return with less than 48 hours to go. Thune said he intends to bring the GOP bill back up for another vote.
