The top four congressional leaders will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, multiple sources told CNN, as Washington works to avoid a looming government shutdown.
The eleventh-hour meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer comes as government funding is set to run out on Tuesday night, with both sides remaining dug in on their positions.
Trump canceled a meeting earlier this week with Schumer and Jeffries, the Democratic leaders. The president labeled “unserious and ridiculous demands” from Democrats as cause for scrapping the meeting, which he said would be unproductive.
The decision came after Trump spoke to Johnson and Thune by phone, CNN previously reported, and the two Republican leaders argued against making a deal with the Democrats. But on Monday, all top leaders will be included in the meeting.
Punchbowl News was first to report on the upcoming meeting.
Jeffries and Schumer, both of New York, said in a statement Saturday that “As we have repeatedly said, Democrats will meet anywhere, at any time and with anyone to negotiate a bipartisan spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people.”
Schumer called Thune on Friday to push for a meeting, an aide for the minority leader said.
Although Republicans control Capitol Hill and the White House, they need at least seven Democrats in the Senate to join them to pass a spending package under the chamber’s rules. Schumer, however, is demanding any funding bill contain an extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium subsidies, along with several other items, to get his party’s support. GOP leaders want an extension of funding for seven weeks, with additional money for security for the legislative, executive and judicial branches.
If the impasse is not resolved, the coming government shutdown could be unlike any other in recent memory. While no two shutdowns are the same, Trump and the White House Office of Management and Budget have already signaled that they are willing to use a different playbook — urging agencies to downsize workers in programs whose funding has lapsed and which don’t align with the president’s priorities.
Trump is no stranger to government shutdowns. The most recent one occurred during his first term, starting in late December 2018 and lasting 35 days, the longest on record.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Manu Raju and Tami Luhby contributed to this report.
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